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E#  H.  Toi^ 


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®I)c  liquor  probim. 


THE  LIQUOR  PROBLEM  IN  ITS  LEGISLATIVE  AS- 
PECTS.  By  Frederic  H.  Wines  and  John  Koren. 
An  Investigation  made  under  the  Direction  of  Charles 
W.  Eliot,  Seth  Low,  and  James  C.  Carter,  Sub- 
Committee  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty  to  Investigate  the 
Liquor  Problem.  With  Maps.  lamo,  $1.25. 

ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  LIQUOR  PROBLEM. 
By  John  Koren.  An  Investigation  made  under  the 
Direction  of  Professors  W.  O.  Atwater,  Henry  W.  Far- 
nam,  J.  F.  Jones,  Doctors  Z.  R.  Brockway,  John 
Graham  Brooks,  E.  R.  L.  Gould,  and  Hon.  Carroll  D. 
Wright,  a Sub-Committee  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty. 
With  an  Introduction  by  Prof.  Henry  W.  Farnam. 
lamo,  $1.50. 

SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON.  By  Raymond 
Calkins.  An  Investigation  made  for  the  Committee 
of  Fifty  under  the  direction  of  Elgin  R.  S-  Gould, 
Francis  G.  Peabody,  and  William  M.  Sloane,  Sub- 
Committee.  i2mo,  $1.30, 7tet. 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY, 
Boston  and  New  York. 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE 

n 

SALOON 


BY 

RAYMOND  ^LKINS 

I 

AN  INVESTIGATION  MADE  FOR 

THE  COMMITTEE  OF  FIFTY 

UNDER  THE  DIRECTION  OF 

FRANCIS  G.  PEABODY,  ELGIN  R.  L.  GOULD 
AND  WILLIAM  M.  SLOANE 

SUB-COMMITTEE  ON  SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 
(IbE  Hiteroibe  f^rcss,  Cambriboe 

1901 


COPYRIGHT,  1901,  BY  FRANCIS  G.  PEABODY 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


Published  Jiuze,  igoi 


1 7?.  5" 

<:!  IS- 51^ 


PRESENT  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE 
COMMITTEE  OF  FIFTY. 

April,  1901. 


President. 

Hon.  Seth  Low,  LL.  D.,  Columbia  College,  New  York. 

V ice-President. 

^Charles  Dudley  Warner,  Esq.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Secretary. 

Prof.  Francis  G.  Peabody,  D.  D.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Treasurer. 

William  E.  Dodge,  Esq.,  99  John  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Executive  Board. 

The  above-named  Officers  and  — 

Dr.  J.  S.  Billings,  Astor  Library,  Lafayette  Place,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
President  Charles  W.  Eliot,  LL.  D.,  Harvard  University,  Cambridge, 
Mass. 

Col.  Jacob  L.  Greene,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Hon.  Carroll  D.  Wright,  A.  M.,  LL.  D.,  Department  of  Labor, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

Members. 

Prof.  Felix  Adler,  12.3  East  60th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Bishop  Edw.  G.  Andrews,  D.  D.,  Methodist  Building,  150  Fifth  Ave., 
New  York,  N.  Y- 

Prof.  W.  0.  Atwater,  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn. 

Dr.  J.  S.  Billings,  Astor  Library,  Lafayette  Place,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Charles  J.  Bonaparte,  Esq.,  216  St.  Paul  St.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Prof.  H.  P.  Bowditch,  Harvard  Medical  School,  Boston,  Mass. 

Rev.  Prof.  Charles  A.  Briggs,  D.  D.,  700  Park  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Z.  R.  Brockway,  Esq.,  Superintendent  State  Reformatory,  Elmira, 
N.  Y. 

John  Graham  Brooks,  Esq.,  Francis  Ave.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Hon.  James  C.  Carter,  54  Wall  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Prof.  R.  H.  Chittenden,  Sheffield  Scientific  School,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Rev.  Father  Thomas  Conaty,  D.  D.,  Catholic  University,  Washington, 

D.  C. 

* Died,  1900. 


62£73"-! 


iv  ORGANIZATION  OF  COMMITTEE  OF  FIFTY. 


John  H. Converse,  Esq.,  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works,Philadelphia,Pa. 
Wm.  Bayard  Cutting,  Esq.,  34  Nassau  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Rev.  S.  W.  Dike,  LL.  D.,  Auburndale,  Mass. 

William  E.  Dodge,  Esq.,  99  John  St.,  New  York,  N.  T. 

Rev.  Father  A.  P.  Doyle,  Paulist  Fathers,  455  West  59th  St.,  New 
York,  N.  Y. 

President  Charles  W.  Eliot,  LL.  D.,  Harvard  University,  Camhridg-e, 
Mass. 

Rev.  Father  Walter  Elliot,  Paulist  Fathers,  455  West  59th  St., 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

Prof.  Richard  T.  Ely,  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison,  Wis. 

Prof.  Henry  W.  Farnam,  43  HUlhouse  Ave.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Rt.  Rev.  T.  F.  Gallor,  D.  D.,  University  of  the  South,  Sewanee,  Tenn. 
President  Daniel  C.  Gilman,  LL.  D.,  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Bal- 
timore, Md. 

Rev.  Washington  Gladden,  D.  D.,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

Rich.\kd  W.  Gilder,  Esq.,  Union  Square,  New  York.  N.  Y. 

Dr.  E.  R.  L.  Gould,  281  Fourth  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Col.  Jacob  L.  Greene,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Dr.  Edward  M.  Hartwell,  5 Brimmer  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Hon.  Henry  Hitchcock,  707  Chestnut  St.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Rev.  W.  R.  Huntington,  D.  D.,  Grace  Chimch,  237  Broadway,  New 
York,  N.  Y. 

Prof.  J.  F.  Jones,  Marietta,  Ohio. 

President  Seth  Low,  LL.  D.,  Columbia  College,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
President  James  MacAlister,  LL.  D.,  Drexel  Institute,  Philadelphia, 
Pa. 

Rev.  Alexander  Mackay-Smith,  D.  D.,  1325  Sixteenth  St.,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

Prof.  J.  J.  McCook,  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Rev.  T.  T.  Munger,  D.  D.,  New  Haven.  Conn. 

Robert  C.  Ogden,  Esq.,  Broadway  and  10th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Rev.  Prof.  F.  G.  Peabody,  D.  D.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Rt.  Rev.  H.  C.  Potter  D.  D.,  29  Lafayette  Place,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Rev.  W.  I.  Rainsford,  D.  D.,  209  East  16th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Jacob  H.  Schiff,  Esq.,  27  Pine  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Rev.  Prof.  C.  W.  Shields,  D.  D.,  Princeton,  N.  J. 

Prof.  W.  M.  Sloane,  Columbia  University,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
^Charles  Dudley  Warner,  Esq.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Dr.  Wm.  H.  Welch,  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital,  Baltimore.  Md. 
Frederic  H.  Wines,  Esq.,  Springfield,  HI. 

Dr.  P.  M.  Wise,  N.  Y.  State  Commission  in  Lunacy,  1 Madison  Ave., 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

Hon.  Carroll  D.  Wright,  A.  M.,  LL.  D.,  Department  of  Labor, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


* Died,  1900. 


INTRODUCTION. 


This  is  the  third  volume  issued  by  the  direction  of 
the  Committee  of  Fifty  for  the  Investigation  of  the 
Liquor  Problem.  The  committee  was  organized  in 
1893  “ to  secure  a body  of  facts  which  may  serve  as  a 
basis  for  intelligent  public  and  private  action.”  “ It 
is  the  purpose  of  the  committee,”  as  its  first  announce- 
ment stated,  “ to  collect  and  collate  impartially  all 
accessible  facts  which  bear  upon  the  problem,  and  it 
is  their  hope  to  secure  for  the  evidence  thus  accu- 
mulated a measure  of  confidence  on  the  part  of  the 
community  which  is  not  accorded  to  partisan  state- 
ments.” Thus,  as  was  said  by  Mr.  Charles  Dudley 
Warner  (Harper’s  Magazine,  February,  1897),  “it''' 
was  from  the  first  understood  that  the  prime  business 
of  the  committee  was  not  the  expression  of  opinion, 
or  the  advancing  or  advocacy  of  one  theory  or  an- 
other, but  strictly  the  investigation  of  facts  without 
reference  to  the  conclusions  to  which  they  might  lead.” 

The  Committee  of  Fifty  was  at  once  divided  into 
four  sub-committees  to  consider  respectively  the  phy- 
siological, legislative,  ethical,  and  economic  aspects  of 
the  drink  question.  The  publications  of  the  Com- 


621:7.3^^ 


VI 


INTRODUCTION. 


mittee  of  Fifty  have  thus  far  been  made  in  the  name 
of  these  various  sub-committees.  The  Legislative  Sub- 
Committee,  consisting  of  President  Eliot,  President 
Low,  and  Mr.  James  C.  Carter,  published,  in  1897, 
“ The  Liquor  Problem  in  its  Legislative  Aspects  ” 
(Houghton,  Mifflin  & Company),  an  investigation 
conducted  by  Mr.  F.  H.  Wines  and  Mr.  John  Koren. 
The  Economic  Sub-Committee,  consisting  of  Colonel 
Carroll  D.  Wright,  Professor  Henry  W.  Farnam, 
Mr.  Z.  R.  Brockway,  Mr.  John  Graham  Brooks,  Dr. 
E.  R.  L.  Gould,  and  Professor  J.  F.  Jones,  published, 
in  1899,  “ Economic  Aspects  of  the  Liquor  Problem  ” 
(Houghton,  Mifflin  & Company),  an  investigation 
made  by  Mr.  John  Koren,  under  the  special  direc- 
tion of  Professor  Farnam,  the  secretary  of  the  sub- 
committee. To  each  of  these  volumes  was  prefixed 
the  following  statement  describing  the  relation  of  the 
Committee  of  Fifty  to  these  special  investigations : 
“By  vote  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty,  January  10, 
1896,  reports  made  by  its  sub-committees  to  the  whole 
body  may  be  published  by  authority  of  the  Executive 
Committee  as  contributions  to  the  general  inquiry; 
but  to  all  such  publications  is  to  be  prefixed  a state- 
ment that  reports  of  sub-committees  are  to  be  regarded 
as  preliminary  in  their  nature,  and  only  contributory 
of  facts  upon  which  the'  general  discussion  may  in  the 
future  be  undertaken  by  the  committee  as  a whole.” 


INTRODUCTION. 


vii 

The  present  volume  has  the  same  preliminary  and 
contributory  relation  to  the  conclusions  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Fifty.  It  is  issued  under  the  direction  of 
a special  committee  appointed  from  the  Ethical  Sub- 
Committee,  and  as  originally  constituted  was  made  up 
of  Professor  Francis  G.  Peabody,  Mr.  Charles  Dudley 
Warner,  Dr.  E.  R.  L.  Gould,  and  Professor  William 
M.  Sloane.  The  death  of  Mr.  M^arner  has  deprived 
the  committee  of  his  generous  sympathy  and  judicious 
counsel. 

It  may  not  unreasonably  be  asked  how  far  this 
series  of  preliminary  studies  is  to  proceed,  and  how 
long  the  formal  conclusion  of  the  inquiry  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Fifty  is  to  be  postponed.  To  these  questions 
it  seems  proper  to  answer  that  the  Committee  of  Fifty 
hopes  to  complete  its  programme  of  research  within  a 
year.  The  present  volume  is  to  be  soon  followed  by 
another,  presenting  the  results  of  the  researches  made 
by  the  Physiological  Sub-Committee,  and  on  the  basis 
of  these  four  preliminary  inquiries  the  Ethical  Sub- 
Committee  will  attempt  to  form  some  brief  and  general 
summary  of  the  conclusions  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty. 
It  will  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  Committee 
was  not  organized  to  institute  practical  undertakings, 
but  to  set  forth  a body  of  verifiable  truth,  and  that  its 
work  will  be  accomplished  if  it  can  furnish  such  evi- 
dence concerning  the  physiological,  legislative,  eco- 


INTRODUCTION. 


viii 

nomic,  and  ethical  aspects  of  the  drink-habit  as  shall 
be  both  trustworthy  and  suggestive. 

The  present  volume  differs  in  important  respects 
from  those  prepared  by  the  legislative  and  economic 
committees.  It  does  not  propose  to  cover  any  general 
view  of  the  drink-habit,  or  to  answer  any  fundamental 
question  of  politics  or  ethics.  It  deals  with  a single 
aspect  of  a single  problem.  The  problem  approached 
is  that  of  the  saloon,  and  the  single  aspect  of  that 
problem  which  is  considered  is  the  contribution  of  the 
saloon  to  sociability.  Dismissing  for  the  moment  all 
discussions  concerning  the  j^hysiology  of  temperance 
or  the  regulation  of  the  drink  traffic,  we  give  our  atten- 
tion to  the  phenomenon  of  the  saloon  as  it  exists  in 
most  American  towns ; and  dismissing,  still  further,  all 
question  of  the  debasing  effects  of  the  saloon,  we  take 
account  of  a single  characteristic,  which  gives  to  the 
saloon  much  of  its  prosperity  and  permanence.  What- 
ever else  the  saloon  may  be  or  may  fail  to  be,  it  is,  at 
any  rate,  the  poor  man’s  club.  Its  hold  on  the  com- 
munity does  not  wholly  proceed  from  its  satisf3dng  the 
thirst  for  drink.  It  satisfies  also  the  thirst  for  socia- 
bility. The  number  of  patrons  of  a saloon  who  are 
slaves  of  the  drink-habit  is  by  no  means  so  great  as  the 
number  who  feel  the  natural  cravings  of  the  social 
instinct.  Club  life  has  become  a social  factor  of  in- 
creasing importance  in  all  modern  society.  It  meets  a 


INTRODUCTION. 


IX 


need  felt  by  women  as  well  as  by  men.  A very  large 
proportion  of  those  people  who  have  the  most  resources 
in  their  homes  now  spend  many  of  their  leisure  hours 
in  social  clubs.  The  poor  man,  however,  finds  no 
resource  of  recreation  and  change  of  scene  so  con- 
venient or  so  persuasive  as  the  saloon ; and  the  saloon, 
by  every  possible  device,  offers  itself  for  the  satisfac- 
tion  of  the  social  instinct.  It  is  not  only  a place  for 
drinking,  biit  the  agreeable  centre  of  gossip,  curiosity, 
and  excitemenL-  •=■ 

The  inquiry  now  undertaken  begins  at  this  point. 
It  assumes  that  no  attack  upon  the  saloon  can  hope 
for  permanent  effectiveness  which  does  not  take  into 
account  this  satisfaction  of  the  social  instinct.  It  in- 
quires whether  there  is  any  considerable  competition 
with  the  saloon  as  a means  of  sociability.  It  asks 
whether  anything  can  be  learned  by  experience  or  by 
observation  as  to  effective  methods  of  this  social  sub- 
stitution. Thus  the  design  of  the  following  investigar 
tion  has  very  definite  limits.  It  is  not  an  academic 
or  technical,  but  strictly  a utilitarian  and  practical 
inquiry.  We  imagine  a philanthropic  citizen  in  some^ 
American  town  considering  the  possibility  of  some 
offset  to  the  solicitations  of  the  saloon.  He  projjoses 
to  himself  the  establishment  of  a Boys’  Club,  or  a 
Gymnasium,  or  a Coffee-House ; but  he  does  not  know 
how  far  such  undertakings  have  been  successful  else- 


INTRODUCTION. 


where,  or  what  their  risks  may  be,  or  on  what  lines  of 
organization  they  should  he  developed.  Might  it  not 
be  greatly  to  his  advantage  if  he  could  learn  what  had 
been  done  of  this  nature  in  Baltimore,  in  Chicago,  in 
San  Francisco,  and  in  half  a dozen  other  communi- 
ties ? Might  not  the  scrupulous  collection  of  this  evi- 
dence from  various  communities  give  judicious  direc- 
tion to  his  new  enterprise,  and  save  him  from  some  of 
the  mistakes  of  precipitancy,  inexperience,  and  unregu- 
lated zeal? 

With  this  limited  purpose  of  practical  guidance  in 
mind,  two  methods  of  procedure  presented'  themselves 
to  the  committee  as  possible.  One  was  the  plan 
which  had  been  followed  by  the  legislative  committee, 
under  which  two  trained  observers  visited  typical 
States  of  the  Union  and  reported  on  various  forms 
of  law.  The  other  was  the  plan  of  the  economic 
committee,  under  which  a large  number  of  local  ob- 
servers reported  to  a single  expert,  whose  duty  was  to 
collect  this  evidence  and  estimate  its  general  lessons. 
The  first  plan  seemed  to  promise  greater  uniformity  in 
treatment,  but  would  in  the  present  case  demand  a 
degree  of  acquaintance  with  local  conditions  which 
no  single  observer  could  in  any  limited  time  hope  to 
possess.  The  second  plan  called  for  a large  amount 
of  contributory  material,  drawn  from  different  com- 
munities and  likely  to  be  of  very  differing  value ; but 


INTRODUCTION. 


XI 


it  seemed  also  to  promise  greater  trustworthiness  as 
well  as  greater  picturesqueness  in  its  results.  The 
committee,  therefore,  first  of  all  secured  the  services 
of  an  experienced  and  sympathetic  expert  to  con- 
duct the  entire  research.  The  Rev.  Raymond  Calkins 
of  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  had  in  1895  directed  a similar 
inquiry  on  a smaller  scale  in  the  interest  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Fifty,  concerning  the  saloons  of  the  city  of 
Boston  and  the  agencies  which  compete  with  those 
saloons  in  providing  recreation  and  sociability.  The 
results  of  this  investigation  were  presented  in  an  arti- 
cle in  the  “ Forum  ” for  July,  1896  (Substitutes  for 
the  Saloon  in  the  City  of  Boston).  Mr.  Calkins  has  •>/ 
brought  to  the  present  inquiry  the  same  devotion  and 
generosity,  together  with  a literary  skill  which  appears 
to  the  committee  to  make  our  volume  not  only  instruc- 
tive but  vivacious  and  picturesque.  Whatever  excel- 
lence is  to  be  found  in  the  following  chapters  is  due 
to  his  discriminating  use  of  the  mass  of  material  before 
him. 

The  first  step  in  the  investigation  thus  initiated  was 
the  procuring  of  evidence  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. The  committee  have  endeavored  to  reach  the 
most  unprejudiced  and  the  best  informed  authorities 
in  each  community,  and  the  responses  to  their  de- 
mands have  been  painstaking,  sympathetic,  and  gener- 
ous. University  students  and  teachers  of  economics 


INTRODUCTION. 


xii 

and  sociology,  agents  of  charity-organization  societies, 
residents  in  social  settlements,  and  many  other  inves- 
tigators with  special  qualifications  have  participated 
in  the  research.  The  cities  selected  for  special  study 
were  as  follows : San  Francisco,  Denver,  St.  Louis, 
Minneapolis,  St.  Paul,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland, 
Buffalo,  New  Haven,  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  Atlanta,  New  Orleans,  and  Memphis.  The 
list  of  persons  who  have  directly  contributed  to  the 
work  is  appended  to  this  introduction. 

On  the  basis  of  these  many  and  varied  reports  Mr. 
Calkins  has  prepared  his  successive  chapters,  discuss- 
ing in  succession  the  various  possible  substitutes  for 
the  saloon,  and  illustrating  the  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages of  each  substitute  by  reference  to  the  eH- 
dence  put  in  his  hands,  and  this  evidence,  as  set  forth 
in  the  Appendix,  will  in  its  turn  lead  the  reader,  if  he 
wishes  to  go  still  further,  into  direct  relations  with 
specific  undertakings  whose  lessons  may  be  applied  to 
his  own  needs.  The  reports  of  these  special  investi- 
gations, many  of  which  have  been  prepared  in  great 
detail,  are  mercilessly  abbreviated  or  reduced  to  tabular 
form  in  order  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  space,  and  the 
results  as  they  are  exhibited  by  no  means  indicate  the 
extent  of  research  or  the  degree  of  devotion  which  have 
been  siven  to  the  task.  The  material  at  the  command  of 

O 

the  committee  is  quite  sufficient  to  fill  a second  volume 


INTRODUCTION. 


xiii 

and,  if  its  publication  were  possible,  would  provide  for 
the  student  of  special  forms  of  philantbropy  a most 
valuable  collection  of  evidence.  To  all  these  contrib- 
utors, and  to  the  many  other  persons  who  have  co- 
operated with  them,  the  committee  desire  to  express 
their  deep  obligations.  These  obligations  are  espe- 
cially due  to  Emily  Lathrop  Calkins,  who  has  not  only 
given  devoted  assistance  in  the  compilation  of  the 
tabular  statements  and  the  general  arrangement  of  the 
volume,  but  has  personally  prepared  Chapters  V.  and 
VIII.  of  the  general  discussion. 

The  volume  thus  represents  a vast  amount  of  pains- 
taking inquiry  devoted  to  a single  aspect  of  the  many- 
sided  problem  of  temperance  reform.  The  committee, 
however,  are  not  without  hope  that  this  limited  under- 
taking may  indicate  to  some  readers  one  point  in  the 
somewhat  bewildering  complexity  of  temperance  agita- 
tion where  it  may  be  possible  to  proceed  with  intelli- 
gence and  effectiveness,  and  may  invite  some  public- 
spirited  citizens  to  a judicious  investment  of  time  and 
means  in  a direct  and  practical  method  of  social 
service. 

Francis  G.  Peabody. 

E.  E.  L.  Gould. 
William  M.  Sloane. 


XIV 


INTRODUCTION. 


LIST  OF  PERSONS  WHO  HAVE  CONTRIBUTED 
TO  THIS  VOLUJVIE. 

1.  Reports  ; — 


Atlanta Rev.  Frank  E.  Jenkins. 

Boston William  I.  Cole,  ] of  the  South 

Kellogg  Durland,  ) End  House. 

Baltimore William  L.  Ross, 

of  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

Buffalo Messrs.  Levon  A.  Tchorigian,  under 


the  direction  of  Westminster 
House,  and  Ludovic  Jones, 
Rev.  Cameron  J.  Davis, 
Arthur  Williams,  and  Walter 
Brown,  under  the  direction  of 
Frederic  Almy  of  the  Charity- 
Organization  Society. 


Chicago Royal  L.  Melendy, 

of  Chicago  Commons. 

Cleveland Starr  Cadwallader, 

of  Goodrich  House  Social  Set- 
tlement. 

Cincinnati Adolph  I.  Marx, 

of  the  University  of  Cincin- 
nati. 

Denver Robert  T.  Walker, 

of  Colorado  College. 

Memphis Rev.  J.  K.  Wooten. 

New  Haven Charles  L.  Storrs,  Jr., 

of  Yale  University. 

New  Orleans Frank  M.  Norman. 

New  York  ....  Francis  H.  McLean, 

then  Assistant  Secretary  of 
Brooklyn  Bureau  of  Charities. 

Philadelphia Edwin  S.  Meade, 

of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 


vania. 


INTRODUCTION. 


XV 


St.  Louis 

St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis . 
San  Francisco  .... 


Walter  J.  Brown  and  R.  C.  Hardy, 
of  the  St.  Louis  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Professor  F.  L.  McVey, 

of  the  University  of  Minnesota. 

Dane  Coolidge,  of  Leland  Stan- 
ford, Jr.,  University. 


2.  Special  contributions  : — 


Legislation  and  the  Social  Features  of  the  Saloon, 

John  Koren. 

Trade  Unions  and  the  Saloon, 

Dr.  Edward  W.  Bemis. 
Fraternal  Societies  and  the  Saloon, 

Professor  B.  H.  Meyer, 
University  of  Wisconsin. 


Boys’  Clubs, 


Williano  A.  Clarke. 

Outdoor  Amusements  in  New  York, 

Dr.  William  I.  Hull, 

of  Swarthmore  College. 

Outdoor  Amusements  in  Philadelphia, 

Francis  H.  McLean. 

Outdoor  Amusements  in  Boston, 

Grosvenor  Calkins. 

A Temperance  Coffee  and  Billiard  Room, 

Rev.  Dr.  MacKay-Smith. 

The  Social  Work  of  the  Salvation  Army, 

Brigadier  Cox. 

The  Social  Work  of  the  Church  Army, 

Colonel  H.  H.  Hadley. 

The  Cambridge  Prospect  Union, 

Robert  E.  Ely. 


3.  Contributions  prepared  for  other  purposes,  loaned  to  the 
editor  of  this  volume  : — 

Hollywood  Inn, 

Rev.  James  E.  Freeman. 


XVI 


INTRODUCTION. 


Lodging-Houses  in  Cincinnati, 

Mr.  Bryant  Venable,  Cincinnati; 
Ohio. 

The  Religious  Condition  of  Young  Men  in  American  Cities, 

Mr.  James  F.  Oaks,  Central  De- 
partment Chicago  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

A Study  of  the  Playgrounds  in  Boston, 

The  Massachusetts  Civic  League, 
Mr.  Joseph  Lee,  Secretary. 

4.  Special  studies  into  local  conditions  : — 

Miss  Mary  Peckham  of  Kingsley  House,  Pittsburg;  Miss  Corne- 
lia Bradford  of  Whittier  House,  Jersey  City;  Miss  Elizabeth  Wil- 
liams of  the  College  Settlement,  New  York;  J.  M.  Hanson,  The 
Commons,  St.  Paul;  Clarence  Gordon  of  the  East  Side  House  Set- 
tlement, New  York;  Miss  Helen  F.  Greene,  Hartley  House,  New 
York. 

5.  Among  a long  list  of  others  who  have  assisted  in  the  inves- 
tigation are  : — 

Mr.  E.  L.  Shuey,  Dayton,  Ohio;  Mr.  Z.  A.  Brockway;  Carroll 
D.  Wright,  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Labor,  Washington,  D.  C.; 
Professor  Henry  W.  Farnam,  Y'^ale  Universitj^;  Professor  Richard 
T.  Ely,  University  of  Michigan;  Mr.  H.  A.  Short,  Birmingham, 
England;  Mr.  William  E.  Wilkinson,  Belfast,  Ireland;  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Peskett,  Liverpool,  England  ; Professor  Graham  Taylor, 
Chicago  Commons;  Mr.  Janies  B.  Reynolds,  University  Settle- 
ment, New  Y'^ork;  Mr.  Lawrence  Veiller,  Sec.  N.  Y.  Tenement 
House  Commission  ; Mr.  Robert  A.  Woods,  South  End  House, 
Boston;  Mr.  Robert  Graham,  N.  Y.  Church  Temperance  Society; 
Professor  Samuel  Lindsay,  University  of  Pennsylvania;  Win. 
Knowles  Cooper,  General  Secretary  of  the  Springfield  Y.  M.  C.  A. ; 
L.  L.  Doggett,  Ph.  D.,  the  Springfield  Training  School. 


CONTENTS, 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  The  Saeoon  as  a Social  Centee  ....  1 

II.  Legislation  and  Substitution 25 

III.  The  Clubs  of  the  People 45 

IV.  Clubs  foe  the  People 70 

V.  PopuLAE  Education 101 

VI.  The  Chuech,  the  Mission,  the  Settlement,  and  the 

Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  . . 125 

VII.  Indooe  Amusements  .......  156 

VIII.  OuTDOOE  Amusements 187 

IX.  Lunch-Rooms  and  Coffee-Houses  ....  216 

X.  English  Temperance  Houses 243 

XI.  The  Housing  of  the  Woeking  People  . . . 267 

APPENDIX. 

1.  Attitude  of  Teade  Unions  towaed  the  Saloon  . 803 

II.  Boys’  Clubs 314 

III.  Repoet  on  Substitutes  foe  the  Saloon  in  Boston  321 

IV.  SuMMAEY  of  Repoets  feom  Ten  Representative 

Cities 338 

Atlanta,  Baltimore,  Buffalo,  Chicago,  Cleve- 
land, Denver,  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco. 

V.  Diagrams  illustrating  Distribution  of  Saloons  . 386 

VI.  Bibliography 389 

Index 393 


“ Economists  have  been  trying  for  a long  time  to  discover  how- 
best  to  employ  the  energies  of  men.  Ah,  if  I could  hut  discover 
how  best  to  employ  their  leisure  ! Labor  in  plenty  there  is  sure 
to  be.  But  where  look  for  recreation  ? The  daily  work  pro- 
vides the  daily  bread,  but  laughter  gives  it  savor.  Oh,  all  j’ou 
philosophers  ! Begin  the  search  for  pleasure  ! Find  for  us  if  you 
can  amusements  that  do  not  degrade,  joys  that  uplift.  Invent  a 
holiday  that  gives  every  one  pleasure,  and  makes  none  ashamed.” 
— Emile  Souvestre  : Un  Philosophe  sous  les  Toils. 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE. 

The  saloon,  economically  considere(^is  a place  where 
intoxicating  liquors  are  sold  at  retail.  They  may  be 
drunk  immediately  upon  the  premises,  or  they  may  be 
taken  away.  The  purpose  of  the  saloon-keeper  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  grocer  or  any  other  retail  mer- 
chant. He  is  there  to  sell  his  goods  at  the  greatest  pos- 
sible profit  to  himself.  If  he  fulfills  any  other  mission 
to  the  community,  he  does  so  because  it  results  natu- 
rally from  his  real  business.  If  he  consciously  supplies 
any  other  demand  than  that  for  drink,  he  perceives  its 
commercial  value  and  seizes  upon  it  in  order  to  increase 
the  amount  of  his  sales.  Always  it  is  the  selling  which 
interests  him.  The  saloon  as  it  exists  is  no  more 
a conscious  benevolent  institution  than  the  grocery 
store.  The  idea  that  the  saloon-keeper  is  disinterest- 
edly  performing  any  social  service  must  be  set  aside  at 
once.  The  commercial  motive  is  at  the  bottom  of  it  | 
all.  That  is  to  say,  the  saloon-keeper  is  a business 
man  like  many  others  in  the  community. 

J ust  as  the  keeper  of  the  saloon  looks  always  at  the 
selling  of  liquors,  so  his  patron  is  there  primarily  to 
buy  them.  If  it  were  not  for  the  patron  who  comes 


2 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


only  to  drink,  the  saloon  could  not  exist  for  a day.  It 
may  be  that  other  things  go  with  the  drinking ; that 
these  become  known  and  sought  for  what  they  are  and 
for  what  they  can  give  ; that  they  become  even  the 
primary  attractions  for  many  saloon  patrons.  But  the 
craving  for  liquors  is  what  makes  the  saloon.  The 
proof  of  this  lies  in  the  failure  of  prohibition  to  destroy 
the  demand  for  drink.  If  it  were  anything  less  than 
this  upon  which  the  saloon  rested,  it  might  easily  be 
abolished.  The  tremendous  strength  of  the  liquor 
business  rests  upon  physiological  gi’ounds. 

Primarily,  then,  the  saloon  answers  to  the  demand 
for  liquor,  but  it  goes  beyond  this  and  supplies  a deeper 
and  more  subtle  want  than  that  of  mere  animal  thirst. 
This  want  is  the  demand  for  social  expression,  and 
how  it  is  met  becomes  clear  by  noting  what  elements 
are  needed  to  create  what  we  may  call  a social  centre. 
These  elements  are  the  absence  of  any  time  limit,  some 
stimulus  to  self-expression,  and  a kind  of  personal  feel- 
ing toward  those  into  whose  company  one  is  thrown, 
which  tempts  one  to  put  away  reserve  and  enjoy  their 
society.  Where  these  three  elements  coexist,  however 
imperfectly,  they  create  a social  centre,  a situation, 
that  is,  in  which  the  social  instincts  find  their  natural 
expression. 

Such  a centre  the  saloon  evidently  is,  even  in  its 
lowest  forms,  for  the  elements  which  create  a social 
centre  are  parts  of^the  very  nature  and  constitution  of 
the  saloon  as  suchLvIn  a saloon  there  is  no  time  limit. 
Loafing  is  not  prohibited,  and  there  are  no  placards 
telling  men  to  move  on.  The  saloon-keeper  is  anxious 
to  have  a man  stay  if  it  seems,  as  it  usually  does. 


THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE. 


3 


that  he  will  spend  more  money.  Only  when  he  has 
no  more  money  to  spend,  or  his  presence  has  become 
obnoxious,  will  he  be  asked  to  leavoCS^he  stimulus 
to  sociability  is  present  irrespective  of  the  quality  of  the 
liquor  and  the  attractiveness  of  the  saloon.  There  is 
no  means  of  arousing  the  social  instinct  so  sure  as  that 
which  lies  within  the  reach  of  the  poorest  man.  An 
expense  of  five  cents  will  put  him  at  any  time  into 
what  we  may  call  a social  temper.  The  saloon  is  warm 
in  winter,  and  as  cool  as  any  other  jjlace  in  summer. 
The  liquor  is  hot  when  the  weather  is  cold,  and  cold 
when  the  weather  is  hot.  Tl^  stimidus  is  calculated 
mcely  to  meet  just  the  social  end.  Best  of  all  he  meets 
his  fellows,  and  is  met  by  them  in  the  direct  and  per- 
sonal way  that  breaks  down  the  reserve,  and  causes  at 
once  the  springs  of  his  social  nature  to  aot.  JjThe  saloon 
is  the  most  democratic  of  institutions.  It  appeals  at 
once  to  the  common  humanity  of  a man.  There  is 
nulling  to  repel.  No  questions  are  asked.  Kespect- 
ability  is  not  a countersign.  . The  doors  swing  open 
before  any  man  who  chooses  to  enter.  Once  within 
he  finds  the  atmosphere  one  in  which  he  can  allow  his 
social  nature  freely  to  expand.  The  welcome  from  the 
keeper  is  a personal  one.  The  environment  is  con- 
genial. It  may  be  that  the  appeal  is  to  what  is  base 
in  him.  He  may  find  his  satisfaction  because  he  can 
give  vent  to  those  lower  desires  which  seek  expression. 
The  place  may  be  attractive  just  because  it  is  so  little 
elevating.  Man  is  taken  as  he  is,  and  is  given  what  he 
wants,  be  that  want  good  or  bad.  The  only  standard 
is  the  demand.  There  is  evidently  no  room  for  argu- 
ment here.  Persons  may  disagree  in  their  opinions  asj 


4 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


to  the  ethical  value  of  the  saloon,  as  to  the  extent  to 
which  the  saloon  ministers  to  the  social  needs  of  the 
community,  but  it  can  hardly  be  denied  that  even  if  it 
be  the  demand  for  drink,  and  that  alone,  which  brings 
a man  to  a saloon,  the  saloon  patron  finds  himself  when 
he  enters  in  a centre  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  free 
expression  of  his  social  nature. 

Here,  then,  is  a social  phenomenon  to  be  studied 
wholly  apart  from  ethical  considerations.  It  may  be  a 
good  thing  or  a bad  thing  that  such  opportunity  exists. 
With  this  we  are  not  for  the  moment  concerned.  What 
interests  us  now  is  simply  that  the  opportunity  is  there. 
It  is  not  a question  whether  a man  is  injured  more  than 
he  is  benefited.  The  fact  to  be  studied  is  that  he  finds 
in  the  saloon  the  answer  to  a social  dfimand.  The 
saloon  is  so  related  in  our  minds  with  the  question  of 
morals  that  it  is  hard  to  look  at  it  merely  as  a social 
institution,  hard  to  assess  it  correctly  upon  the  basis  of 
precise  observation  without  allowing  our  preconceived 
notions  of  its  ethical  value  to  influence  our  judgment. 
An  unbiased  study  of  the  saloon  as  it  exists  in  our 
American  cities,  under  many  differing  laws  and  in  its 
many  different  forms,  compels  the  conclusion  that  it  is 
acting  to-dav  as  a social  centre,  even  where  this  pur- 
pose  is  furthest  from  the  mind  of  its  keeper,  and  where 
its~~apparent  attractiveness  is  reduced  to  its  lowest 
terms. 

Upon  closer  examination,  the  importance  of  this  re- 
sult only  increases,  and  the  real  hold  of  the  saloon  upon 
the  social  life  of  the  people  becomes  more  and  more 
clear.  It  is  apparent  for  one  thing  that  there  are  not 
many  centres  of  recreation  and  amusement  open  at  all 


THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE. 


5 


hours  to  the  working  people,  none  that  minister  to  their 
comfort  in  such  a variety  of  ways.  The  longer  onei 
searches  for  just  the  right  kind  of  a substitute  for  the 
saloon,  affording  its  conveniences  without  its  evils,  the 
more  one  despairs  of  finding  it.^  And  yet  such  places 
are  a positive  necessity,  for  the  social  instinct  that 
demands  and  finds  its  satisfaction  within  the  saloon 
is  a reality.  Work  is  not  and  was  not  meant  to  be 
the  whole  of  life.  The  leisure  problem  equals  in  im- 
portance  the  labor  problem,  and  surpasses  it  in  diffi- 
cult^ Uur  present-day  social  philosophers  are  search- 
ing for  the  solution  of  this  problem.  In  the  mean  time, 
to  satisfy  the  social  needs  of  thousands  of  our  laboring 

people,  stands  the  saloon  ready  to  welcome  them,  and 
Oidmirably  adapted  to  such  an  end.  How  admirably,  a 
short  study  of  some  representative  types  of  saloons  will 
easily  show  us. 

Even  in  the  lowest  kinds  of  saloons  there  is  a kind  of 

social  life  present.  These  places  may  be  positively 
immoral,  where  all  the  adjectives  of  the  temperance 
rhetorician  apply  literally.  Unfortunately,  even  such 
saloons  as  these  are  not  the  less  for  all  this,  centres 
for  social  expression.  To  say  this  is  not  to  say  a word 
in  their  defense.  The  fact  is  simply  recorded.  Sncia.1 
r|pci>ocj  may  b^  d^^priived  : they  are  none  the  less  real, 

and  that  their  expression  gives  rpL'pf  anrl 
cannot  for  a moment  be  doubted.  The  saloon  becomes 
in  this  case  the  conduit  through  which  pass  off  the 
lowest  forms  of  social  life.  The  men  who  patronize 
these  places  are  ex-convicts  or  embryo-criminals ; men 
whose  tastes  and  habits  are  the  lowest.  Often  the 


6 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


mental  and  physical  activities  of  such  men  as  these 
find  outlet  in  acts  of  positive  violence  and  disorder. 

But  a saloon  may  be  dull  and  degrading  without 
being  positively  vicious.  Here,  for  example,  is  a sa- 
loon on  Ninth  Avenue  in  New  York.  It  is  typical  of 
I a large  number  of  poor  saloons  in  any  large  city.  An 
Irish  plug-ugly  acts  as  barkeeper.  It  is  a rather  cool 
evening,  but  the  gusty  draughts  of  air  are  freely  ad- 
mitted through  open  doors.  Small,  head-high  screen 
doors  alone  hide  the  interior  from  passers-by.  All  this 
but  indicates  the  indifference  to  real  comfort  which 
characterizes  so  generally  the  poorer  kinds  of  Irish  sa- 
loons. Despite  the  general  discomfort,  in  a nook  which 
is  partially  protected  from  the  wind,  five  or  six  regular 
patrons  are  playing  with  greasy  cards  on  a black  and 
dirty  table.  They  are  all  middle-aged  men  of  miser- 
able type.  The  place  is  not  of  a kind  which  would  be 
likely  to  attract  the  younger  men,  for  though  the  inte- 
rior finish  was  once  good,  dirt  has  become  so  deeply 
ingrained  that  the  general  effect  is  forlorn,  uncomfort- 
able. Walking  down  the  same  block  one  might  find 
four  or  five  saloons  of  precisely  the  same  character. 

Here  it  mio-ht  seem  as  if  the  social  element  had  been 

o 

reduced  to  a minimum.  It  is  only  when  one  studies 
the  character  of  the  man  who  frequents  such  places 
that  one  perceives  the  real  social  service  which  the 
I saloon  renders  him.  | For  this  man,  a squalid  room  in 
\ some  tenement,  a dirty  bed  in  some  lodging-house,  the 
Istreets,  or  the  lockup  are  the  only  social  alternatives. 
iFrom  his  point  of  view,  your  dirty  saloon  wears  a new 
aspect.  To  him  it  is  a real  asylum,  an  escape  from 
the  drudgery  of  work  or  the  hand  of  the  police.  He 


THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE. 


7 


was  born  in  dirt  and  he  is  not  afraid  of  it.  To  him 
the  atmosphere  is  positively  congenial.  Tliejude  wel- 
come is  the  kind  he  wants.  He  has  a place  of  his  own, 
warmth,  fellowship.  He  wants  his  drink  and  he  gets 
it.  Even  such  saloons  as  these,  which  stand  for  a large 
number  to  be  found  in  any  community,  act  as  social 
centres  to  the  kind  of  men  that  they  attract. 

Another  class  of  saloons  deserves  special  study  be- 
cause it  is  the  most  common  form  to  be  met  with  any- 
where, the  typical  American  “ stand-i^  ” saloons.  The 
interior  of  saloons  of  this  type  will  necessarily  differ 
according  to  the  population,  and  according  as  they  at- 
tempt more  and  more  to  provide  for  the  physical  com- 
fort and  recreation  of  their  patrons.  As  a rule,  they 
are  clean  and  neat.  This  is  not  always  the  case,  espe-\ 
daily  in  the  meaner  saloons,  where,  as  the  day  goes  on, 
the  bar  and  floor  become  more  and  more  untidy.  Yet 
almost  always  the  saloons  are  distinctly  superior  in  ap- 
pearance to  anything  their  patrons  are  accustomed  to 
in  their  own  homes.  For  decoration,  there  is  the  usual 
display  of  bottles  filled  with  different  colored  liquors. 
The  expensive  bars  and  plate-glass  mirrors  are  supplied 
by  the  brewers.  The  pictures  are  often  advertisements 
issued  by  the  brewers  and  advertising  the  brewery 
beer.  Some  of  these  are  cheap  and  tawdry,  but  others 
are  quite  elaborate.  The  appeal  to  what  is  low  and 
vulgar  by  means  of  indecent  pictures  is  not  common  in 
these  ordinary  saloons.  Other  ornamentation  is  not 
supplied  because  it  is  not  demanded.  The  patrons  of  i 
saloons  of  this  type  have  no  highly  developed  aesthetic 
or  artistic  sensibilities.  When  the  people  have  a higher 
education  in  art,  it  will  be  discoverable  upon  the  walls  / 
of  the  saloons. 


8 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


The  amount  of  furniture  supplied  depends  largely  on 
the~dicense  system  that  prevails.  Where  the  license 
is  low  and  the  saloons  are  numerous,  competition  results 
in  a larger  attempt  to  provide  for  the  physical  comfort 
of  patrons.  Where  the  license  is  high  and  the  saloons 
are  limited  in  number,  other  attractions  than  the  drink 
are  not  needed.  In  Massachusetts  and  in  Pennsylvania, 
the  saloon  wears  a much  plainer  aspect  than  in  the 
South  and  West,  where  there  are  few  saloons  that  are 
not  provided  with  some  furniture  aside  from  the  bar. 
In  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  for  example,  out  of  315 
typical  saloons,  270  were  supplied  with  tables  and 
chairs ; and  in  Chicago  out  of  the  163  saloons  of  the 
Seventeenth  Ward,  no  less  than  147  made  similar  pro- 
vision. 

More  important  than  the  furniture  is  the  general 
character  of  these  saloons.  They  are,  in  the  first 
place,  thoroughly  cosmopolitan.  One  saloon  in  Chicago 
advertises  its  cosmopolitanism  by  the  title  “ Every- 
body’s Exchange.”  Men  of  all  nationalities  meet  and 
mingle.  More  important  still,  the  general  atmosphere 
is  one  of  freedom.  That  spirit  of  democracy  which 
men  crave  is  here  realized.  That  men  seek  it,  and  that 
the  saloon  tries  to  cultivate  it,  is  blazoned  forth  in  such 
titles  as  “ The  Fred,”  “ The  Social,”  “ The  Club,” 
“ The  Reception,”  “ Ed  and  Frank’s,”  “ The  Two 
Andersons,”  “ Joe  Cardinal’s  Place.”  The  Bowery 

(has  a saloon  called  the  “ Poor  Man’s  Retreat.”  The 
club  idea  is  used  to  make  the  saloon  atmosphere  con- 
genial. That  instinct  which  is  so  manifest  in  our 
modern  life  is  utilized  thoroughly  by  the  saloon.  The 
term  “ club  ” applies,  for  many  saloons  have  their  own 


THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE. 


9 


constituency,  although  it  may  not  be  organized.  Where 
the  saloon  patronage  is  large,  men  naturally  associate 
according  to  their  own  cliques  or  affiliations.  The 
character  of  saloons  is  determined  often  by  the  char- 
acter of  the  men  who,  having  something  in  common, 
make  the  saloon  their  rendezvous.  That  same  instinct 
which  brings  business  men  together  in  their  Somer- 
set Club  or  their  Union  League  Club  leads  the  labor- 
ing man  into  the  clubs  furnished  by  the  saloons. 
The  saloon  becomes  the  natural  headquarters  of  a 
club  which  may  have  no  constitution  or  by-laws,  but 
is  still  a distinct,  compact,  sympathetic  company  of 
men.  Their  common  ground  may  be  their  nationality. 
In  this  case  the  saloon  becomes  a kind  of  national 
headquarters.  It  is  not  at  aU  uncommon  in  large 
cities  to  see  saloons  bearing  such  names  as  “ The 
Italian  Headquarters,”  etc.  There  are  whole  blocks 
of  saloons  which  appeal  to  men  of  a single  nationality. 
Or  the  bond  that  unites  them  may  be  their  occupation, 
as  is  indicated  by  the  names  “ Mechanics’  Exchange  ” 
or  “ Milkmen’s  Exchange.”  The  utility  to  men  of  the 
same  trade  in  having  a single  saloon  to  represent  their 
interests  is  obvious.  The  saloons  become,  in  fact, 
labor  bureaus.  The  laboring  man  out  of  employment 
knows  that  in  some  saloon  he  is  likely  to  find  not  only 
temporary  relief,  but  assistance  in  finding  work.  To 
“ The  Stone-Cutters’  Exchange,”  for  example,  men 
seeking  masons  often  apply.  Men  meeting  there  dis- 
cuss their  profession.  A man  out  of  employment  does 
not  go  to  the  ^harity  organization  socie^,_but  to 
his  club  saloon.  Information  concerning  positions  is  j 
gathered  by  the  men  themselves  and  is  made  common 


10 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


property.  Many  a man  has  been  put  on  his  feet  by 
just  this  kind  of  help.  He  does  not  feel  like  a charity 
applicant,  for  he  knows  that  he  is  as  likely  to  give  as  to 
receive, ' The  athletic  instinct  may  be  the  common 
ground,  and  many  men  find  their  athletic  club  within 
1 the  saloon.  An  ex-prizefighter  or  baseball  champion 
i sets  up  a saloon  which  becomes  the  clearing-house  for 
' all  kinds  of  athletic  and  sporting  intelligence.  A 
noted  place  in  St.  Louis  is  called  “ Tom  Allen’s  Cham- 
pion Rest.”  The  proprietor  is  an  ex-pugilist  from  Lon- 
'^dpn,  and  his  place  is  well  known  throughout  the  West, 
^^^^olitics  may  be  the  common  bond.  This  is  perhaps 
the  most  common  tie  of  all.  In  Chicago  one  saloon  is 
known  as  “ The  Democratic  Headquarters  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Ward.”  In  New  York  the  Tammany  headquar- 
ters in  many  a district  is  found  in  a saloon.  These  sa- 
loons are  well  known,  and  particidarly  at  election  time 
they  are  ci’owded  nightly  with  members  of  the  political 
\ fraternity.  Thus  the  strongest  ties  which  unite  men 
are  effectually  used  by  the  saloon.  It  has  become  the 
official  and  the  unofficial  meeting-place  for  the  discus- 
sion of  those  interests  which  are  uppermost  in  men’s 
minds.  These  men  have  had  considerable  education 
of  a practical  if  not  an  academic  sort ; especially  when 
they  touch  upon  social  problems,  they  often  reveal  a 
real  insight  into  the  cause  of  present  evils,  even  if  the 
remedies  that  they  propose  are  wide  of  the  mark.  The 
newspaper  is  an  educator,  and  often  men  who  have  read 
and  studied  lead  in  the  saloon  discussions. 

The  position  of  the  saloon-keeper  in  saloons  of  this 
type  is  a most  important  and  influential  one.  He  is 
I commonly  a man  of  an  intelligence  superior  to  that  of 


THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE.  11 

his  patrons.  That  the  character  of  the  saloon  as  a centre 
of  sociability  should  depend  on  the  personality  of  the 
saloon-keeper  is  only  natural.  He  is  above  all  else  a 
man  of  the  people.  He  knows  his  men  and  know's 
them  well.  He  knows  often  about  their  families  and 
their  circumstances,  and  thus  has  a hold  on  their  sym- 
pathies. ^^The  laborer  often  regards  him  as  his  chief 
friend.  He  has  more  leisure  for  self-improvement  than 
most  of  his  customers. '^-ile  has  in  his  possession  the 
latest  political  and  sporting  news.  He  reads  the  papers 
and  makes  a point  of.  being  a leader  in  discussion,  an 
arbitrator  in  deb|itel~^  He  makes  a show  of  hospitality 
and  generosity."-  A man  can  often  borrow  money  from 
a saloon-keeper,  and  the  saloon  is  frequently  the  only 
place  where  a poor  man  can  “ get  trusted,”  and  this  he\y 
does  not  forget.  To  the  proprietor,  loss  upon  such 
loans  as  these  is  more  than  made  up  in  the  ultimate 
return.  Very  often  the  saloon  is  a laboring  man’s  post 
office.  His  letters  are  sent  there,  and  are  taken  care 
of  by  the  bartender  free  of  charge.  From  all  this 
will  be  seen  the  influence  which  the  saloon-keeper  has 
gradually  acquired.  Thus  it  is  easy  to  see  how  his 
political  power  arises.  He  is  the  middleman  between 
the  great  financial  interests  represented  by  the  brew- 
ers and  the  political  units  that  are  his  patrons.  By^ 
his  position  he  is  a leader.  He  is  the  man  to  whom 
the  politician  must  go  before  the  realization  of  his 
schemes.  If  there  is  any  bribery,  it  concerns  the  sa- 
loon-keeper, who  is  asked  to  treat  “ the  boys  ” in  re- 
turn. Such  are  the  varied  functions  of  the  barkeeper ; 
such  is  his  social  position ; such  is  his  influence.  In 
saloons  of  no  other  type,  either  lower  or  higher,  is  the 


12 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


barkeeper  quite  tbe  man  of  importance  that  he  is  in 
the  majority  of  our  city  saloons.  If  he  is  not  master 
of  all  these  arts,  he  is  of  some.  He  is  able  to  contrib- 
ute to,  if  not  to  create,  an  atmosphere  of  sociability,  and 
through  personal  influence  to  win  the  confidence  of  his 
patrons. 

Besides  this  general  atmosphere  of  congenial  society 
and  comfort,  the  saloon  of  this  class  has  added  certain 
features  intended  directly  for  recreation  and  amuse- 
ment. Their  number  and  variety  will  depend  upon 
the  existing  license  regulations.  The  screen  law,  well 
known  in  Massachusetts,  is  an  effective  means  for 
depriving  the  saloons  of  much  of  that  sociability  for 
which  a certain  amount  of  privacy  is  necessary.  In 
New  York  social  features  are  not  uncommon,  and  in 
the  West  they  are  almost  universal.  The  most  ordi- 
nary form  of  amusement  is  card-playing.  Tables  and 
cards  are  supplied  by  the  proprietor,  and  sometimes 
card-rooms.  They  are  always  small,  and  no  effort  is 
made  at  decoration  of  any  kind.  This  arrangement  is 
commonly  seen  in  New  York,  where  saloons  are  pro- 
vided with  back  rooms  furnished  with  tables  and  chairs. 
For  example,  out  of  fifteen  representative  saloons  in 
the  Fourteenth  Assembly  District,  nine  have  rear  rooms 
used  for  card-playing  and  other  social  purposes. 

Reading  is  not  so  common.  It  is  the  exception  to 
find  men  busy  reading  the  papers  to  any  extent  or  for 
any  length  of  time  even  when  the  saloon  supplies  them. 
In  Chicago  out  of  163  saloons  in  the  Seventeenth  Ward, 
139  were  found  to  be  regularly  supplied  with  papers. 
But  in  Cleveland,  the  chief  of  police  reported  that  he 
had  never  seen  a newspaper  in  a saloon  in  that  city 


THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE. 


13 


unless  it  were  one  which  the  proprietor  had  used  and 
discarded.  In  other  cities  the  local  papers  are  often 
found,  but  they  are  not  much  read.  Reading  is  too 
quiet,  too  individual,  too  little  social  an  occupation  to 
suit  the  ordinary  saloon  habitu^. 

Music  is  not  commonly  found  in  bar  saloons.  The 
proprietor  cannot  afford  good  music,  and  the  patrons, 
as  a rule,  do  not  care  for  it.  A music-box  is  occasion- 
ally found,  or  a graphophone,  or  a nickel-in-the-slot 
machine,  or  other  device  for  reproducing  sentimental 
songs.  Sometimes  a singer  or  violinist  is  hired  for  the 
evening,  but  as  a rule  it  is  the  more  highly  developed 
saloons  to  which  one  must  go  for  the  music.  The  bil- 
liard  and  pool  table  is  a more  common  method  of 
amusement  than  the  newspaper  or  the  musical  attrac- 
tion. Twenty-seven  per  cent  of  the  saloons  studied 
in  Chicago  have  them,  and  in  St.  Louis  they  are  very 
common.  And  yet  the  pool  table  is  not  seen  so  much 
as  formerly  in  some  of  our  cities.  In  many  high 
license  places  it  is  prohibited.  In  others,  for  one  rea- 
son or  another,  it  has  given  way  to  other  forms  of 
amusement.  The  tables  take  up  too  much  space ; they 
easily  get  out  of  repair ; the  excitement  of  the  game 
often  takes  the  place  of  drink,  which  is  far  from  the 
saloon-keeper’s  wish.  There  is  the  temptation  to  lin- 
ger too  long  over  the  games. 

An  almost  inevitable  means  of  attracting  to  the- 
saloon  is  to  report  the  current  sporting  and  athletic 
news.  On  the  night  of  a well-known  prize  fight,  the 
saloons  of  the  entire  country  are  commonly  packed. 
The  news  of  the  “ mill  ” is  received  “ by  special  wire  ” 
and  detailed  to  the  customers.  Sometimes  a black- 


14 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON". 


board  is  used  for  illustrations.  During  the  baseball 
and  racing  season,  it  is  very  common  to  have  score 
cards  given  out  free  of  charge.  As  tbe  game  pro- 
gresses and  tbe  results  are  announced,  tbe  score  can 
be  kept  as  accurately  by  one  sitting  at  a table  with  bis 
drink  as  if  he  occupied  a seat  on  tbe  “ bleachers.” 

But  not  all  the  methods  employed-ior  amusement  are 
as  innocent  as  these.  The  gambling  instinct  is  given 
its  chance  for  expression  in  many  of  the^aloons.  This 
may  take  the  harmless  form  of  tossing  for  drinks  or 
cigars  ; it  may  be  the  almost  universal  playing  for  the 
game  in  billiards,  by  which  the  loser  pays  the  expense 
for  the  whole  company;  it  may  be  a playing  for  stakes  at 
I cards,  which  is  very  common,  or  it  may  be  the  use  of  the 
, gambling  machine.  The  relative  amonnt  of  gambling 
in  a saloon  will  depend,  of  course,  upon  the  severity  of 
its  supervision.  The  tendency  toward  it  must  always 
exist  to  a greater  or  less  extent.  The  gambling  ma- 
chine is  not  so  common  in  the  East  as  it  is  in  the  ^Vest. 
But  it  is  only  recently  that  it  has  been  banished  from 
the  saloons  of  New  Haven,  and  it  is  still  to  be  found  in 
Baltimore.  In  the  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  and  Chicago 
saloons  gambling  is  quite  prevalent.  A favorite  type 
of  machine  is  a peuny-in-the-slot  contrivance,  to  be 
played  for  drinks  or  cigars,  or  for  money.  Often  one 
can  see  men  crowd  around  these  machines,  waiting  a 
turn  to  try  their  luck.  Ordinarily  but  five  or  ten  cents, 
but  sometimes  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents  is 
dropped  in  at  a single  play.  In  one  of  the  largest  first- 
class  saloons  of  Cincinnati,  after  an  evening’s  play,  the 
bulk  of  the  coin  taken  from  its  ten  machines  measured 
over  a half  bushel.  If  more  gambling  does  not  exist. 


THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE. 


15 


it  is  often  due  to  the  fact  that  the  demand  is  not  great 
enough  for  a larger  number  to  thrive  and  pay  the 
“ tax,”  that  is,  the  hush  money. 

That  the  social  evil  is  also  pandered  to  by  the  saloon 
of  this  class,  as  well  as  of  the  lower  types  already 
mentioned,  is  well  known.  The  two  vices  of  drunken- 
ness and  social  immorality  are  closely  allied.  Drink  in- 
fluences the  passions  and  leads  to  excess.  Many  sa- 
loons are  in  close  connection  with  houses  of  assignation, ' 
while  others  are  well-known  rendezvous  for  prostitutes, 
and  have  a distinct  patronage  on  this  account.  A 
common  form  of  saloon  of  this  class  in  New  York  is  a 
Raines  Hotel  of  a low  type.  The  cities  of  the  West 
have  their  saloons  with  stalls  or  wine-rooms.  There 
may  be  no  definite  business  agreement  between  the 
women  and  the  keepers  of  the  saloons,  but  as  a rule 
the  saloon-keepers  are  compensated  for  the  extra  space 
and  furniture  by  the  increased  bar  receipts,  and  the 
women,  in  turn,  are  furnished  a “ hang-out.” 

A distinctive  and  general  feature  of  the  saloons  of 
this  class  is  the  food  which  they  serve.  provi- 

sion of  food  by  the  saloons  is  required  by  law  for 
hygienic  reasons  : it  is  bad  for  a man  to  drink  upon  an 
empty  stomach.  But  it  is  a long  cry  from  this  to 
becoming,  as  the  saloons  now  are,  the  base  of  the  food 
supply  of  thousands  of  men  of  all  classes  in  our  cities. 
Besides  the  free  lunch,  many  saloons  serve  what  is 
called  a business  Jnneli,  or  a commercial  lunch  ; that 
is,  upon  payment  of  five  or  ten  cents  a man  obtains  in 
a saloon  the  same  amount  of  food  which  he  would  ob- 
tain in  a restaurant.  The  quality  of  the  food  is  as 
good,  there  is  no  delay,  and  for  an  additional  payment 


16 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


the  customer  can  have  his  drink.  These  saloons  are 
patronized  generally  at  noontime  and  at  night  rather 
than  through  the  day.  They  do  a regular  restaurant 
trade,  but  serve  liquors  in  addition. 

^ The  free  lunch  is  free  only  in  the  sense  that  when  a 
man  has  bought  a drink,  he  is  not  charged  for  eating. 
But  it  is  imdeniable  that  the  workingman,  any  man 
not  supplied  with  much  ready  money,  regards  even  the 
^most  meagre  free  lunch  as  one  of  his  greatest  blessings. 
The  quality  of  these  lunches  varies  a good  deal.  Where 
the  competition  is  not  great,  or  where  the  license  is 
high,  the  free  lunch  is  not  so  attractive.  In  Boston, 
New  York,  Baltimore,  and  Philadelphia  the  ordinary 
saloons  certainly  do  not  serve  a very  abundant  or  a 
very  appetizing  free  lunch.  Usually  this  lunch  is  cold. 
Where  a hot  lunch  is  found,  it  wiU  almost  always  con- 
sist of  soup  with  bread.  The  cold  lunch  is  generally 
made  up  of  the  following  articles  ; Bread,  crackers, 
and  wafers  ; cheese,  bologna  sausage,  wienerwurst,  cold 
eggs,  sliced  tomatoes,  cold  meats,  salads,  pickles  and 
other  relishes.  The  demand  is  commonly  for  something 
sour  or  salt.  The  consumption  of  pickles,  salt  meats, 
sauerkraut,  and  potato  salad  runs  far  ahead  of  anything 
else.  The  drinking  man’s  stomach  seems  to  crave  the 
acid.  A workingman  does  not  need  to  eat  very  heart- 
ily of  the  free  lunch  in  order  to  appease  his  hunger. 
A slice  or  two  of  bread,  a few  pickles,  and  a small 
piece  of  meat  with  the  beer  is  all  that  many  of  them 
eat  at  noontime.  The  meagre  lunch  which  many  of 
the  saloons  in  our  Eastern  cities  afford  is  perfectly 
adequate  to  the  needs  of  a great  majority  of  drinkers. 

No  limit  is  ordinarily  put  upon  the  amount  which 


THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE. 


17 


a man  may  eat.  A well-dressed  or  a regular  cus- 
tomer is  never  interfered  with.  It  is  only  the  man 
who  comes  seldom  or  evidently  comes  for  the  lunch 
alone  who  need  fear  the  eye  of  the  bartender.  How- 
ever, there  is  a kind  of  etiquette  about  the  use  of  the 
free  lunch  which  acts  as  a corrective  to  the  greed  of 
some  patrons.  It  is,  of  course,  at  noontime  that  the 
saloons  serve  most  largely  as  eating-places.  Then  it 
is  that  hundreds  of  men  make  use  of  them  as  restau- 
rants. Standing  at  almost  any  street  corner  near  a 
large  factory,  one  can  see  the  men  going  in  large  num- 
bers directly  from  their  work  to  the  saloon  for  their 
lunch  and  their  schooner  of  beer.  In  certain  sections 
it  is  the  exception  to  see  a dinner  pail.  A hot  lunch 
is  often  served  at  noontime,  and  when  a second  beer  is 
purchased,  a piece  of  roast  meat,  some  vegetables,  and 
a relish  can  be  obtained  without  extra  charge. 

In  the  South  the  Negro  problem  has  its  effect  upon 
the  free  lunch.  One  saloon  kept  in  Atlanta  reported 
that  it  did  not  pay  to  set  out  much  of  a free  lunch  be- 
cause the  Negro  is  such  a heavy  eater  that  there  would 
be  no  profit.  Again,  the  white  man  would  not  help 
himself  out  of  a dish  which  had  been  used  by  a Negro, 
and  in  many  saloons  it  would  be  impracticable  to  have 
a double  counter.  For  this  reason,  in  saloons  which 
have  a mixed  trade,  the  free  lunch  is  inconspicuous. 
In  other  saloons,  however,  the  free  lunch  in  the  South 
is  more  like  what  it  is  in  the  North.  This  may  be 
seen  from  the  following  description  of  the  free  lunch 
served  in  all  the  saloons  in  the  business  portion  of  New 
Orleans,  or  where  there  are  a large  number  of  working- 
men about  the  railroad  yards  or  ship  wharves.  A large 


18 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


table  is  set  out  in  the  saloon,  on  which  are  placed  trays 
of  cut  bread,  bowls  of  butter,  salads  and  sauces.  Then 
there  is  another  table  where  there  is  a large  tureen  of 
soup,  a platter  of  roast  beef,  a large  dish  of  rice  or 
baked  beans,  or  hash  or  mashed  potato  ; there  is  gener- 
ally a change  every  day,  and  on  Friday  there  are  oyster 
soup  and  fish.  This  hot  lunch  is  served  from  eleven 
to  one  o’clock.  Any  one  can  go  in,  take  a soup  plate 
from  the  pile,  and  get  some  soup  ; then  help  himself  to 
meat  and  vegetables,  and  take  what  is  wanted  of  bread 
and  butter,  or  anything  else  there  is  on  the  lunch  table. 
When  the  meal  is  finished,  the  patron  goes  to  the  bar 
and  takes  his  drink.  As  will  be  seen,  this  lunch  is 
more  elaborate  than  is  common  in  the  eastern  cities 
of  the  North. 

/ In  the  Western  cities  the  fx’ee  lunch  is  even  more 

(elaborate.  This  is  due  primarily  to  the  greater  compe- 
tition which  exists  between  the  saloons,  and  partly  to 
the  cheapness  of  food.  The  best  free  lunches  to  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  country  are  in  Chicago,  in  St. 
Louis,  and  in  San  Francisco.  The  following  amount 
is  consumed  per  day  in  a Chicago  saloon : 150  to  200 
pounds  of  meat,  1^  to  2 bushels  of  potatoes,  50  loaves  of 
bread,  35  pounds  of  beans,  45  dozens  of  eggs  on  some 
days  (eggs  not  usually  being  used),  10  dozen  ears  of 
sweet  corn,  11.50  to  $2.00  worth  of  vegetables.  Five 
men  are  constantly  employed  at  the  lunch  counter. 
The  total  cost  of  the  lunch  is  130  to  |40  per  day. 
/The  only  way  in  wdiich  such  an  amount  of  food  can  be 
/ given  away  is  through  the  competition  of  the  brewers, 
who  furnish  the  beer  and  food  at  wholesale  to  the  retail 
dealers.  The  attractiveness  of  such  a free  lunch  can 


THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE. 


19 


be  imagined.  In  San  Francisco  the  saloons  furnish 
an  equal  abundance  and  variety  of  food.  In  comparing 
its  free  lunch  with  the  ordinary  restaurant,  it  is  of 
interest  to  note  that  while  the  saloons  dispense  hot 
meats  freely,  but  two  restaurants  could  be  found  which 
furnished  meat  dishes  for  five  cents.  A woman  at  the 
head  of  a local  temperance  organization  declared  that 
when  her  boys  began  their  business  life  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, they  found  themselves  practically  compelled  to 
resort  to  the  saloons  for  their  midday  lunches.  They 
could  not  afford  to  get  them  elsewhere.  The  incident 
indicates  how  the  patronage  of  the  saloon  is  increased 
by  means  of  the  free  lunch. 

To  this  long  list  of  comforts  and  conveniences  sup- 
plied by  the  ordinary  saloon,  one  other  must  be  added. 
The  saloon  is  often  the  only  place  in  crowded  sections 

of  our  large  cities  which  provides  public  toilet-rooms. 
This  provision,  which  belongs  properly  to  the  muni- 
cipality, has  in  America  been  left  to  the  hotels  and 
the  saloons.  Many  men  who  never  under  ordinary 
circumstances  patronize  a bar  do  so  because  they  feel 
under  some  obligation  to  pay  for  the  convenience 
afforded  them.  This  is  another  illustration  of  the  way 
in  which  the  saloon  has  made  itself  indispensable  to  the ' 
community. 

A third  class  of  saloons  remains  to  be  described.  It 
is  the  Continentaj.  t^e,  where  the  motive  of  sociability 

and  qmusehient  is_as  strong  in  the  patron  as  the  desire 
for~drin^r  The  drinking  is  done  at  tables,  both  in  the 
main  room  and  in  separate  rooms.  Very  often  there 
is  no  bar.  The  atmosphere  is  that  of  comfort  and  of 
sociability.  There  is  much  less  intoxication,  as  a rule, 


20 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


than  in  the  bar  saloons.  Distilled  liquors  are  seldom 
called  for,  except  in  the  Italian  saloons.  More  time  is 
spent  over  the  drink  than  in  the  “ stand-up  ” saloons. 
It  is  more  of  a loafing-place ; the  social  element  domi- 
nates. Within  this  class  also  there  is  great  variety. 
The  saloons  range  all  the  way  from  the  small  German 
restaurant  to  immense  establishments  involving  a great 
outlay  of  capital,  and  providing  luxurious  accommoda- 
tions and  almost  every  possible  form  of  amusement  for 
their  patrons.  The  boulevard  restaurant,  after  the 
Parisian  model,  the  beer  garden,  and  certain  business 
men’s  restaurants  are  all  included,  for  in  them  all  the 
element  of  sociability  is  highly  developed,  and  the 
drinking  is  made  the  accompaniment  of  many  varied 
forms  of  social  activity. 

The  foreign  quarters  of  any  large  city  contain  num- 
bers of  small  drinking-places  where  the  men  come  to 
smoke  and  talk.  They  are  not  exclusively  German, 
although  these  preponderate.  The  Italians  have  their 
wine-shops,  and  the  Hungarians  and  Poles  and  other 
foreigners  have  places  of  their  own.  The  interior  pre- 
sents a difPerent  appearance  from  that  of  the  bar  sa- 
loon. There  is  less  noise  and  hurry.  There  are  fewer 

/transients,  and  less  passing  in  and  out.  Men  come  in 
quietly  and  settle  down  to  their  pipes  and  beers  with 
more  deliberation.  During  working  hours  these  places 
are  half  empty,  but  they  fill  up  rapidly  in  the  evening, 
when  they  do  their  best  trade.  There  is  commonly 
no  free  lunch,  but  food  is  served  at  something  lower 
I than  restaurant  prices.  The  patronage  is  likely  to  be 
uniform.  As  a result,  the  proprietor  is  personally 
''y  acquainted  with  a larger  number  of  his  patrons  than 


THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE. 


21 


in  the  saloons  where  there  are  more  transients.  Thus 
in  every  way  the  element  of  sociability  is  heightened. 

The  boulevard  saloon  is  not  very  well  known  in  this 
country.  No  avenue  in  America  perhaps  jiresents  just 
the  spectacle  of  a boulevard  in  Paris  with  its  many 
cafes,  whose  tables  are  placed  in  numbers  in  the  front, 
where  men  and  women  may  sip  their  drink,  read  the 
papers,  or  observe  the  passers-by.  And  yet  this  kind 
of  saloon  is  not  wholly  absent  from  our  American 
cities.  In  New  York,  for  example.  Second  Avenue 
during  the  summer  months  has  many  such  establish- 
ments. Some  of  them  have  small  summer  gardens, 
with  tables  in  full  view  of  the  avenue.  This  is  a well- 
known  broad  promenade,  crowded  on  either  side  with 
passing  throngs  of  people  of  almost  every  nationality. 
Meals  are  served  at  these  cafes  at  all  hours.  In  the 
evening  a good  three-course  dinner  with  coffee  can  be 
obtained  in  many  of  them  for  twenty-five  cents.  Beer 
is  the  common  beverage,  but  many  people  frequent 
these  caf4s  who  scarcely  ever  call  for  liquor.  They 
are  very  pleasant  places,  especially  in  the  evening. 
There  are  one  or  two  of  them  which  make  a point  of 
supplying  a good  many  newspapers.  At  the  corner  of 
Houston  Street  and  Second  Avenue  is  a saloon  which 
has  no  outside  seats,  but  the  main  room  is  quite  large. 
There  is  a profusion  of  tables  and  papers.  The  pa- 
trons sit  there  during  the  whole  evening,  some  drink- 
ing coffee,  others  beer  or  liquors.  The  place  does  not 
even  suggest  a bar-room.  The  windows  are  not  shaded 
in  any  way,  and  from  the  outside  one  might  imagine 
the  room  to  be  a free  reading-room.  It  has  a most 
homelike  appearance,  and  it  draws  large  crowds. 


22 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


The  lack  of  an  adequate  provision  of  places  for  busi- 
ness appointments  has  given  the  saloon  an  advantage 
which  it  has  been  quick  to  seize.  Many  a first-class 
saloon  is  altogether  suited  to  this  purpose.  Here  a 
man  and  his  friends  may  sit  down,  often  in  an  alcove, 
and  discuss  at  leisure  over  a first-class  dinner,  with  any 
kind  of  liquor,  the  business  that  brought  them  there. 
Not  only  are  these  places  used  for  business  appoint- 
ments, but  separate  rooms  are  sometimes  furnished  for 
the  use  of  committees  and  small  meetings  of  various 
character,  there  being  no  charge  for  their  use.  The 
head  of  a department  in  one  of  Chicago’s  large  whole- 
sale houses  said  that  certain  of  their  best  salesmen  sell 
a large  portion  of  their  goods  over  a glass  of  beer  in  a 
neighboring  saloon.  One  of  the  most  famous  of  these 
business  men’s  establishments  is  Tony  Faust’s  in  St. 
Louis. 

Certain  saloons  have  as  a distinguishing  feature  their 
oddity  and  the  novelties  that  they  present,  or  owe  their 
existence  to  customs  of  long  standing.  On  Avenue  A 
in  New  York,  for  example,  is  a German  saloon  which 
reproduces  accurately  in  its  furnishings  an  ancient 
German  tavern.  There  is  a general  air  of  restfulness 
and  quiet  about  the  place.  The  impression  is  distinctly 
different  from  that  which  one  gains  in  going  into  one  of 
the  more  fashionable  German  beer  halls.  Nearly  every 
city  has  its  “ Log  Cabin  ” saloon,  its  “ Maze,”  and  other 
odd  establishments.  Still  other  saloons  make  a distinct 
business  of  amusing  their  patrons.  In  the  East  this 
is  generally  prohibited  by  law,  but  in  the  West  it  is 
very  common.  Indeed,  it  is  often  hard  to  tell  whether 
we  are  dealing  with  a saloon  or  with  an  amusement 


THE  SALOON  AS  A SOCIAL  CENTRE. 


23 


enterprise.  The  two  meet  and  mingle.  Is  it  a theatre 
saloon,  or  a saloon  theatre  ? Is  it  a concert  hall  where 
drinks  are  served,  or  a saloon  where  music  is  furnished  ? 
There  is  little  upon  the  surface  to  determine.  It  is 
very  difficult  to  distinguish  between  many  large  beer 
gardens  and  suburban  pai-ks  which  permit  the  sale  of 
liquors.  The  saloon  idea  is  so  developed  that  the  very 
name  seems  no  longer  to  apply.  The  amusement  offered 
is  almost  always  one  of  two  kinds.  It  is  either  musical 
or  dramatic.  The  concert  saloons  are  often  unobjec- 
tionable and  sometimes  do  a real  service  to  the  com- 
munity. They  are  the  only  concerts  which  thousands 
of  poor  people  ever  hear,  for  the  public  band  concerts 
are  miles  away.  Of  the  vaudeville  saloons  little  good 
can  be  said.  At  their  best,  they  are  vulgar ; at  their 
worst  unspeakably  degrading.  As  a rule,  the  perform- 
ances are  free.  The  large  patronage  upon  which  such 
places  can  depend  reimburses  the  proprietor  for  his 
extra  expense.  They  generally  serve  food  as  well  as 
drinks,  the  prices  being  about  the  same  as  those  charged 
in  any  good  restaurant.  The  effort  is  not,  however,  to 
make  a profit  from  the  food.  It  is  from  the  liquor 
sales  that  the  profit  is  expected.  The  most  highly 
developed  amusement  saloons  are  large  establishments 
with  every  provision  made  for  social  entertainment. 
A good  illustration  of  an  establishment  of  this  kind 
is  Heinegabubeler’s  famous  saloon  in  Chicago.  This 
saloon  occupies  a building  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
business  centre.  A great  amount  of  money  has  been 
spent  to  make  the  place  attractive  both  without  and 
within.  Besides  the  ordinary  buffet  and  social  rooms 
on  the  street  floor,  there  are  three  upper  stories  that 


24 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


are  decorated  and  luxuriously  furnished  and  arranged 
with  free  gymnasium,  reading-rooms,  large  halls  and 
reception  rooms.  The  spacious  roof  is  utilized  in  sum- 
mer for  a garden.  Less  pretentious  establishments  of 
a similar  kind  exist  in  ahnost  all  the  Western  cities, 
where  the  chief  attraction  is  a good  orchestra.  In  the 
evening  these  places  are  commonly  filled,  and  the  re- 
ceipts are  amply  sufficient  to  reimburse  the  proprietor 
for  the  added  expense. 

An  inquiry  into  the  social  side  of  saloon  life  reveals 
the  firm  hold  which  the  saloon  has  upon  the  people. 
It  is  true,  as  was  said  at  the  beginning,  that  the  motive 
of  the  saloon-keeper  is  always  a commercial  one,  and 
that  the  demand  of  the  patron  is  primarily  for  drink ; 
yet  the  roots  of  the  saloon  are  sunk  deep  within  the 
social  life  of  the  great  mass  of  the  inhabitants  of  our 
large  cities.  An  economic  examination  of  the  problem 
reveals  the  great  amount  of  capital  involved  in  the 
liquor  traffic,  the  great  number  of  people  employed, 
directly  or  indirectly,  in  its  production  and  distribution. 
The  ethical  side  of  the  problem  is  hardly  less  convin- 
cing in  its  demonstration  of  the  important  position 
occupied  by  the  saloon  in  our  social  economy. 


CHAPTER  II. 


LEGISLATION  AND  SUBSTITUTION. 


The  saloon  is  the  poor  man’s  club  in  the  sense  that 
it  often  offers  him,  with  much  that  is  undoubtedly  in- 
jurious, a measure  of  fellowship  and  recreation  for 
which  he  would  look  elsewhere  in  vain.  It  .does-a  va  st 
amount  of,  jaair.nbipf,  bn-t  at- t, ha-. same  timp  snppb'pg  a. 
legitimate  want  in  the  life  of  the  working-man  by  p~iv- 

ing  Li'it'  f7'r>Tr»  mnr»r.f;nr»y  and  meagreupss  nf_ 


This  want  is  so  generally  recognized 


that  social  workers  have  often  remarked  that,  bad  as 
the  saloon  is,  they  would  hesitate  to  remove  it  unless  y 
there  were  something  to  take  its  place. 

The  question  arises.  How  may  the  evils  of  the  saloon 
be  eliminated  and  at  the  same  time  the  social  wants  of 
thousands  in  our  great  cities  be  satisfied  ? Two  methods 
must  evidently  be  pursued.  The  saloon  must  be  con- 
fined by  legislative  restriction  to  its  own  normal  func- 
tion of  the  distribution  of  liquor,  and  other  places  of 
recreation  be  provided  without  the  perils  accessory  to 
the  saloon,  where  a man  may  enjoy  the  society  of  his 
fellows  without  being  confronted  with  the  evils  of  in- 
toxication, of  gambling,  of  social  vice,  and  where  he 
will  not  be  ^tempted  to  squander  his  week’s  wages. 
These  methods  do  not  exclude  but  complement  each 
other.  To  destroy  the  social  functions  of  the  saloon 
without  making  any  provision  for  the  social  needs  of 


26 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


the  people  would  be  unji^.  To  rival  the  social  attrac- 
tiveness  ot  the  saiooii  without  first  limiting  its  full 
liberty  to  act  as  a social  centre  would  be  impossible. 
Where  these  two  methods  are  wisely  employed,  the  evils 
of  the  saloon  will  be  reduced  to  a minimum  and  the 
social  needs  of  the  people  will  at  the  same  time  be 
supplied.  In  the  adjustment  and  application  of  these 
two  methods  lies  the  ultimate  solution  of  the  liquor 
problem. 

Certain  legislative  enactments  must  plainly  precede 
any  successful  effort  to  offer  social  substitutes  for  the 
saloon.  For  example,  if  no  attempt  is  made  to  limit 
the  number  or  location  of  saloons  by  law,  the  hopeless- 
ness of  the  problem  becomes  apparent.  The  diagrams 
that  appear  in  the  Appendix  have  been  prepared  to 
show  the  number  and  location  of  saloons  in  sections  of 
certain  cities.  Any  attempt  at  substitution  under  such 
conditions  is  very  difficult.  The  saloons  crush  their 
rivals  by  sheer  force  of  numbers. 

Such  a condition  the  law  can  change  at  will.  “ The 
number  of  saloons  can  be  limited  either  by  statutory 
enactment  according  to  population,  as  in  Massachusetts, 
or  merely  with  respect  to  what  the  licensing  authorities 
conceive  to  be  the  popular  needs  of  the  community,  as 
in  Pennsylvania.”  ^ The  number  of  saloons  in  a block 
can  be  limited,  and  a too  great  congestion  in  the  poorer 
residence  districts  can  be  forbidden.  All  such  enact- 
ments which  lessen  the  whole  number  of  saloons  and 
to  a certain  extent  confine  them  to  business  sections 

1 Much  of  the  material  relating'  to  the  legislative  aspects  of  the 
problem  is  taken,  at  times  verbatim,  from  a report  prepared  for  the 
editors  of  this  volume  by  Mr.  John  Korfen. 


LEGISLATION  AND  SUBSTITUTION. 


27 


give  their  social  competitors  a better  chance  of  suc- 
cess. In  this  way  legislation  can  at  once  overcome  the 
initial  advantage  of  the  saloon. 

But  even  when  legislation  has  done  this,  it  has  still 
left  untouched  the  social  attractiveness  of  the  saloon, 
which  actually  increases  as  the  number  of  saloons  de- 
creases. The  problem  is  practically  left  where  it  was 
before.  The  question  arises.  Can  legislation  go  still 
further  and  extirpate  the  social  functions  of  the  saloon  ? 
If  this  can  be  done,  then  evidently  the  plan  of  provid- 
ing social  substitutes  to  take  its  place  becomes  not  only 
a possible  but  a highly  important  form  of  social  ser- 
vice. Our  restrictive  liquor  legislation,  it  must  be 
frankly  said,  has  as  yet  done  but  little  to  counteract  or 
to  minimize  the  social  attractions  of  the  saloon.  This 
fact  a brief  examination  of  existing  systems  will  suffice 
to  demonstrate. 

All  low  license  systems  fail,  for  curiously  enough 
the  lower  the  license  fee,  the  fewer,  as  a rule,  are  the 
legal  restraints  imposed  upon  the  saloon.  Nowhere  is 
the  license  so  low  as  in  San  Francisco.  Those  retail 
dealers  whose  aggregate  sales  amount  to  less  than  $600 
a quarter  need  pay  no  license  at  all,  and  those  whose 
sales  amount  to  less  than  $15,000  a quarter  pay  a 
license  of  only  $84  a year,  and  nowhere  is  the  saloon 
freer  from  legal  restrictions.  The  law  requires  only 
that  the  business  be  not  conducted  by  a person  con- 
victed of  a felony,  and  that  the  resort  be  not  used  for 
immoral  purposes.  In  Chicago  the  fee  is  but  $500  a 
year,  and  in  Chicago,  more  than  in  Eastern  cities,  the 
distinctively  social  features  of  the  saloon  predominate. 
This  is  true  also  of  St.  Louis,  where  the  fee  is  even 


28 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


lower.  The  great  majority  of  saloons  in  St.  Louis  are 
furnished  with  round  or  square  tables  and  chairs  for 
the  convenience  of  their  patrons.  One  who  passes  by 
can  often  see  card-playing  through  the  open  door. 
Many  of  them  also  have  billiard  and  pool  tables ; still 
others,  wine-rooms  and  theatrical  and  athletic  exhibi- 
tions. In  Ohio  the  saloon  is  taxed  at  the  uniform  rate 
of  #250  per  year.^  The  law  does  not  forbid  the  com- 
bination with  the  saloon  trade  of  other  attractions,  as 
music,  dancing,  and  games,  or  of  other  pursuits,  such 
as  the  sale  of  provisions  or  the  exhibitions  of  plays ; 
there  are  no  restrictive  regulations  as  to  chairs,  tables, 
screens,  and  the  like.  These  may  be  taken  as  illustra- 
tions of  the  influence  of  the  low  license  system  upon 
the  social  attractions  of  the  saloon.  It  may  be  said, 
in  a word,  that  under  the  system  of  low  license  the 
social  attractiveness  of  the  saloon  is  not  at  all  limited 
by  legislation. 

The  method  of  high  license  evidently  contemplates 
a restriction  of  the  social  features  of  the  saloon.  Yet 
the  result  is  not  attained,  and  the  saloon  continues  to  be, 
to  a greater  or  less  degree,  a social  centre.  The  primary 
reason  for  this  lies  in  the  very  nature  of  the  License 
system.  The  traffic  is  left  in  private  control,  and  the 
operator  is  taxed  for  the  privilege  of  engaging  in  his 
business.  The  question  of  revenue  is  a vital  one  with 
him.  If  the  restrictive  measures  be  too  severe,  they 
will  drive  him  out  of  the  business,  and  this  is  not  the 
purpose  of  any  license  system.  The  evident  injustice 
to  the  dealer  is  the  reason  why  more  restrictive  laws 
are  not  passed,  and  why  those  that  are  passed  are  not 
^ See  Legislative  Aspects  of  the  Liquor  Problem,  p.  298. 


LEGISLATION  AND  SUBSTITUTION. 


29 


more  rigidly  enforced.  The  feeling  is  that  where  the 
saloon  is  already  highly  taxed  for  the  privilege  of  con- 
ducting its  business,  it  should  he  left  free  to  stimulate 
its  trade  by  any  legitimate  means.  In  some  cities,  of 
course,  the  restrictive  laws  are  fairly  well  enforced 
without  seeming  to  cripple  to  any  extent  the  saloon 
trade.  “ The  truth  of  this  is  perhaps  nowhere  better 
exemplified  than  in  Massachusetts,  where  the  high 
license  system  has  reached  a more  complete  develop- 
ment than  in  any  other  State.  Here  the  employment 
of  numerous  restrictive  expedients,  as  well  as  the  stat- 
utory limitations  of  the  number  of  saloons  according 
to  the  traffic,  together  with  unusually  high  fees,  have 
served  to  raise  the  tone  of  the  traffic  to  some  extent 
and  to  eliminate  the  old-time  dive.  The  saloons  in 
Boston,  for  instance,  are  to  a less  extent  than  those 
of  other  great  cities  social  centres ; for  not  only  are 
they  prevented  from  holding  out  inducements  to  their 
patrons  by  the  aid  of  various  kinds  of  social  machinery 
in  vogue  elsewhere,  but  above  all,  the  law  has  shorn 
them  of  that  privacy  which  conduces  so  much  to  the 
sociability  and  club-like  atmosphere  of  the  drink  places. 
Yet  notwithstanding  the  unusual  publicity  of  its  business 
which  makes  it  impossible  for  the  drinker  to  escape 
altogether  the  public  gaze,  and  in  spite  of  the  generally 
efficient  police  supervision,  the  Massachusetts  saloon 
admittedly  holds  its  own  as  a centre  of  social  life  for 
the  workingman.  It  is  still  a favorite  resort,  the  head- 
quarters of  local  political  machinations,  and  the  rendez- 
vous of  gangs ; and  its  presiding  genius  is  a man  of 
social  prestige  and  appreciable  influence  among  his 
fellows  by  virtue  of  his  occupation.  In  ministering  to 


30 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


the  social  wants  of  certain  classes,  he  is  still  without 
dangerous  rivals.” 

What  legislation  in  Massachusetts  has  been  unable 
to  accomplish,  the  license  laws  of  other  States  are  still 
further  from  attaining.  Where  legislation  puts  a pre- 
mium on  the  hotel  feature  of  the  drink  place,  as  in 
New  York,  under  the  liquor  tax  law,  it  results  not 
only  in  accumulation  of  the  ordinary  attractions,  but 
of  opportunities  for  gambling,  prostitution,  and  other 
excesses.  The  dealer  feels  that  he  must  recoup  him- 
self for  the  extra  expenditure  involved  in  the  running 
of  a “ hotel,”  by  fair  means  or  by  foul. 

The  root  of  the  difficulty,  it  is  almost  needless  to 
emphasize,  lies  in  the  fact  that  a license  law,  whether 
high  or  low,  permits  the  sale  of  liquor  for  private 
profits.  The  dealer  naturally  seizes  every  chance  to 
increase  his  business.  By  so  much  as  he  can  increase 
the  cheer  and  hospitality,  as  well  as  the  more  tangible 
allurements  of  his  place,  the  profits  grow.  Private  pro- 
fits must  be  eliminated  from  the  sale  of  liquor  before 
much  progress  can  be  made  in  offsetting  the  social 
attractions  of  the  saloon.  “ Look  where  we  may,  to 
our  own  experience  or  to  that  of  European  countries, 
we  find  that  legislation  is  powerless  to  revolutionize 
the  character  of  the  saloon  as  a social  institution  until 
it  takes  it  out  of  private  hands.”  Thus  both  the  low 
and  high  license  systems  have  failed  to  counteract  the 
social  side  of  saloon  life. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  prohibition  laws.  So 
long  as  public  opinion  does  not  insist  iqjon  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  formally  banished  saloon,  just  so  long  is  it 
possible  not  only  for  it  to  exist,  but  to  preserve  all  the 


LEGISLATION  AND  SUBSTITUTION. 


31 


essential  elements  of  a social  centre,  and  to  draw  pa- 
tronage as  sucli.  Unaided  by  popular  conviction,  the 
official  odium  attaching  to  it  cannot  seriously  diminish 
its  attractiveness.  “ As  a cause  of  intemperance  in 
Maine,  especially  among  young  men,  is  mentioned  the 
dearth  of  good  pleasure  resorts  and  public  amuse- 
ments. As  one  who  for  fourteen  years  had  been  a 
labor  leader  in  Portland  remarked : ‘ They  [the  Pro- 
hibitionists] try  to  take  the  bar-rooms  away  from 
the  boys  and  give  them  nothing  instead  except  the 
churches.’  The  saloon  is  still  a social  centre  in  Port- 
land for  which  no  permanent  substitutes  have  been 
offered  to  the  large  number  of  young  men,  abounding 
in  every  city,  who  cannot  in  any  sense  be  said  to  have 
homes.”  ^ 

All  these  laws  have  then,  generally  speaking,  failed 
to  destroy  the  social  functions  of  the  saloon.  This  result 
has  been  attained,  however,  in  our  own  country  under 
the  South  Carolina  Dispensary  System.  The  success 
of  the  system  has  been  due,  it  is  needless  to  say,  to  the 
fact  that  the  element  of  private  profits  has  been  largely 
eliminated.  The  business  is  conducted  by  the  State 
and  not  by  private  individuals  who  are  in  the  business 
for  what  they  can  make  out  of  it.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
go  into  the  details  of  the  system,  but  for  the  sake  of 
contrast,  it  is  well  to  remember  what  becomes  of  an 
ordinary  saloon  when  it  is  taken  out  of  the  hands  of 
individuals. 

“ Take  a typical  South  Carolina  dispensary  which 
has  supplanted  the  flaunting,  ubiquitous  saloon  of 
former  days.  Except  for  the  modest  sign  over  the 

^ See  Legislative  Aspects  of  the  Liquor  Problem,  p 58. 


32 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


door,  there  is  hardly  anything  to  betray  the  business  of 
the  place.  Its  location  has  not  been  chosen  for  con- 
spicuousness. The  interior  furnishings  are  meagre  in 
the  extreme,  and  have  respect  to  bare  utility.  Instead 
of  presiding  behind  a polished  bar  with  its  tempting 
array  of  bottles  and  decanters,  the  dispenser  is  ensconced 
behind  a lattice-work  which  fences  off  all  the  long  and 
narrow  room  except  a small  space  in  front.  On  the 
shelves  and  on  boxes  partly  hidden  from  view  are  the 
officially  stamped  liquor  packages.  Through  a small 
aperture  in  the  middle  of  the  lattice-work  the  dispenser 
communicates  with  the  customers  and  receives  the 
orders.  After  the  necessary  formalities  have  been 
complied  with  (they  are  such  that  if  properly  insisted 
upon  the  undesirable  customer  is  denied  his  request), 
the  goods,  never  less  than  a half  pint  of  distilled  liquor 
in  a sealed  bottle,  are  passed  out,  and  the  purchaser  is 
expected  to  make  room  for  the  next  comer.  The  dis- 
penser may  be  courteous,  but  he  is  not  cordial.  There 
is  no  invitation  to  make  oneself  at  home  ; and  there 
could  be  no  reason  for  extending  it,  since  the  room  is 
barren  of  all  comforts,  and  does  not  even  contain  a 
chair  or  a table,  not  to  mention  other  conveniences.  It 
is  absolutely  prohibited  to  open  a liquor  package  on 
the  premises ; treating  in  the  ordinary  sense  is  thus 
done  away  with.  ...  At  six  P.  M.  the  doors  of  the 
establishment  close,  not  to  open  again  until  after  work 
hours  the  next  day.”  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine 
conditions  less  conducive  to  sociability.  The  bar  is  a 
memory  only.  The  buying  of  intoxicants  has  become 
as  prosaic  as  the  buying  of  soap  or  codfish. 

By  this  is  not  meant  that  the  South  Carolina  system 


LECxISLATION  AND  SUBSTITUTION. 


33 


is  the  best  method  of  regulating  the  liquor  business. 
On  the  contrary,  it  will  probably  be  found  that  there 
are  in  such  a system  very  grave  defeetsI^T^or  one 
thing,  the  State  is  given  an  interest  in  promoting  the 
establishment  of  the  dispensaries,  since  the  whole  of 
the  profit  is  retained  for  state  and  municipal  expenses. 
Even  the  elimination  of  private  profit  has  not  been 
completely  secured,  since  the  salaries  of  the  county  dis- 
pensers are  fixed  according  to  the  amount  of  business 
that  is  done.b^^Another  serious  defect  of  the  system  is 
that  it  does  not  succeed  in  taking  the  liquor  traffic  out 
of  politics.  The  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  in  his 
message  to  the  General  Assembly,  January  10, 1899, 
said  the  new  system  “ has  now  been  in  force  three 
years,  and,  in  my  opinion,  it  has  failed  to  accomplish 
the  purposes  of  its  advocates.  The  idea  was  to  divorce 
the  dispensary  system  from  politics,  and  to  put  it 
under  a strictly  business  management.  No  such  re- 
sult has  followed.  It  is  notorious  that  the  dispensary 
is  as  much  or  more  in  politics  than  it  ever  was.”^ 
But  in  spite  of  these  disadvantages  the  system  has 
accomplished  much,  since  it  does  destroy  the  social 
features  of  saloon  life,  while  permitting  the  distribu- 
tion of  intoxicating  liquors. 

The  same  result  has  been  achieved  in  Norway  and 
Sweden  under  the  Company  system,  the  central  prin- 
ciple of  which  is  the  elimination  of  private  profit. 
The  drinking-places,  in  general,  are  not  so  devoid  of 
all  attractions  as  the  South  Carolina  dispensaries,  and 

^ See  Legislative  Aspects  of  the  Liquor  Problem,  p.  168. 

^ Quoted  in  The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Reform,  pp.  240, 
241. 


34 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


in  some  of  them  liquor  may  be  consumed  on  the  pre- 
mises. But  even  in  Christiania,  where  the  shops  of  the 
Company  offer  the  most  attractions,  there  is  little  to 
remind  us  of  the  American  saloon.  “They  are  not 
resorts  for  social  intercourse  ; they  are  not  comfortable 
and  spacious.  No  games,  newspapers,  or  other  means 
of  recreation  are  provided,  not  even  seats.  Men  do 
not  congregate  there  to  do  business,  to  discuss  politics, 
to  bet  on  the  races.  There  is  no  treating:  or  ling:ering- 
over  the  social  glass.”  In  short,  they  are  not  in  any 
sense  social  centres.  The  advantages  of  the  Company 
system  are  that  the  drink  traffic  is  forever  taken  out 
of  politics,  that  local  administrations  can  adapt  the 
details  of  the  system  to  local  conditions,  that  the  profits 
must  be  used  to  establish  substitutes  for  the  saloon  of 
an  educative  and  a recreative  sort.  This  beneficent  plan 
is  already  in  operation  in  Norway.  In  other  words, 
under  this  system  both  the  restrictive  and  constructive 
methods  of  meeting  the  liquor  problem  are  in  opera- 
tion at  the  same  time.  This  system  doubtless  repre- 
sents the  highest  and  most  successful  type  of  liquor 
legislation  to  be  found  anywhere,  for  it  unites  in  a sin- 
gle system  of  control  the  two  methods,  the  successful 
operation  and  adjustment  of  which  means  the  ultimate 
solution  of  the  liquor  problem.  This  much  at  least  is 
clear  : neither  local  enactments  nor  police  surveillance 
can  avail  to  destroy  the  social  attractions  of  the  saloon 
so  long  as  it  is  left  in  private  control.  The  saloon  as 
a social  centre  can  only  disappear  when  the  element  of 
private  profits  has  been  removed. 

The  ability  of  legislation  to  extirpate  the  social  at- 
tractiveness of  the  saloon  has  thus  been  demonstrated; 


LEGISLATION  AND  SUBSTITUTION. 


35 


but  in  proportion  to  the  degree  in  which  legislation  is 
successful  in  taking  from  the  saloon  its  social  features, 
the  obligation  becomes  imperative  to  provide  for  the 
patrons  of  the  saloon  other  places  of  social  recreation 
and  fellowship.  Up  to  the  present  time  reformers  have 
given  much  more  attention  to  the  method  of  legislation 
than  to  the  method  of  substitution.  The  latter  method 
is  the  one  that  now  requires  careful  study.  Until  ade- 
quate and  sensible  means  have  been  devised  for  the 
recreation  of  the  people,  the  time  will  not  have  come  to 
consider  the  advisability  of  employing  legislation  which 
can  rob  the  saloon  of  all  its  social  features.  As  yet 
adequate  substitutes  for  the  social  benefits  which  thou- 
sands of  the  people  actually  derive  daily  from  the 
saloons  have  not  been  developed.  It  is  to  this  problem 
that  the  experience,  the  wisdom,  and  the  wealth  of  those 
interested  in  social  progress  must  now  be  directed. 

Europe  has  taken  the  lead  here  as  well  as  in  the 
method  of  legislation.  The  importance  of  this  method 
of  meeting  the  liquor  problem  has  been  clearly  recog- 
nized by  foreign  governments.  Russia,  for  example, 
has  not  only  put  a restrictive  liquor  law  into  operation 
(the  Government  Monopoly  will  within  a year  or  two 
be  extended  into  seventy-five  provinces),  but  has  been 
organizing  a scheme  of  preventive  agencies,  as  well,  un- 
der the  lead  of  Prince  Oldenberg  of  St.  Petersburg. 
The  plan  is  to  open  reading-rooms  with  libraries  and 
cheap,  attractive  restaurants  near  public  gardens  and 
squares  where  the  working  people  congregate.  The 
movement  has  grown  remarkably,  until  now  there  are 
nearly  2000  of  these  tea-rooms  and  tea-restaurants,  943 


36 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


reading-rooms  and  libraries,  654  popular  readings  in 
hired  halls,  and  many  other  similar  popular  attractions. 

Interesting  experiments  have  been  inaugurated  in 
Norway  and  in  England.  The  coffee-houses  of  Liver- 
pool have  become  famous  ; the  workingmen’s  clubs,  the 
model  tenements,  the  friendly  inns  of  London  and 
other  English  cities  are  well  known.  So  far  back  as 
1834  a Select  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  in 
reporting  on  the  “ Causes  and  Consequences  of  Intoxi- 
cation among  the  Labouring  Classes,”  recommended, 
among  other  things,  “ The  establishment,  by  the  joint 
aid  of  the  government  and  the  local  authorities  and 
residents  on  the  spot,  of  public  walks  and  gardens,  or 
open  spaces  for  athletic  and  healthy  exercises  in  the 
open  air,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  every  town,  of 
an  extent  and  character  adapted  to  its  population  ; and 
of  district  and  parish  libraries,  museums  and  read- 
ing-rooms, accessible  at  the  lowest  rate  of  charge,  so  as 
to  admit  of  one  or  the  other  being  visited  in  any 
weather  and  at  any  time ; with  the  rigid  exclusion  of 
all  intoxicating  drinks  of  every  kind  from  all  such 
places,  whether  in  the  open  air  or  closed.”  ^ 

Twenty  years  later,  in  1854,  another  Select  Commit- 
tee of  the  House  of  Commons  reported  : — 

“ Your  Committee  are  fully  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  as  far  as  possible  dissociating  places  of 
public  entertainment  from  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
drinks.  Dramatic  and  musical  performances  have  a 
tendency,  under  a strict  censorship,  to  raise  the  character 
of  the  people,  and  there  is  evidence  of  a growing  taste 
for  such  entertainments  among  the  working  classes, 
^ The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Eeform,  p.  3S4. 


LEGISLATION  AND  SUBSTITUTION. 


37 


which  it  appears  to  your  Committee  may  be  made  to 
serve  as  a powerful  counter-attraction  to  the  public 
house. 

“ Your  Committee  have  been  impressed  with  the 
good  effects  of  the  Saturday  evening  concerts,  such  as 
take  place  at  the  Lord  Nelson  Street  Rooms,  Liver- 
pool, which,  on  all  occasions,  are  presided  over  by 
some  person  of  note  or  respectability  ; and  they  are 
satisfied  that  were  the  example  followed,  and  the  means 
provided,  independent  of  public  houses,  for  the  working 
classes  to  gratify  their  taste,  especially  for  music,  the 
result  would  be  a diminution  of  intemperance  and  the 
refinement  of  the  popular  taste.” 

Since  1854  other  recommendations  have  been  made 
to  Parliament  in  regard  to  the  importance  of  providing 
for  the  social  needs  of  the  people. 

The  most  interesting  beginnings  in  our  own  country 
are  patterned  after  European  models,  but  they  are  be- 
ginnings only.  In  no  city  in  our  country  are  the  social 
substitutes  at  all  adequate  to  the  demand.  A greater 
advance  has  been  made  in  the  method  of  substitution 
in  the  cities  of  the  North  and  East  than  in  other 
sections  of  the  country.  It  is  in  Boston,  Baltimore, 
New  York,  and  Philadelphia  that  the  most  significant 
experiments  have  been  tried.  Several  very  careful 
inquiries  have  been  made  in  certain  small  cities  and  in 
limited  sections  of  the  larger  cities  to  discover  how  many 
substitutes  actually  compete  with  the  social  life  of  the 
saloon.  Jersey  City,  for  example,  has  a population  of 
about  195,000  and  a saloon  to  eveiy  thirty-five  voters. 
The  workers  in  Whittier  House  were  able  to  discover  a 
few  clubs  connected  with  churches  and  the  settlement. 


38 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


several  good  branch  libraries,  three  cheap  theatres,  a 
few  parks,  but  no  effort  to  provide  cheap  and  whole- 
some food  and  lodgings  for  the  needs  of  a distinctively 
transient  population.  The  settlement  and  an  energetic 
institutional  church  perform  practically  all  the  philan- 
thropic activity  for  the  entire  city.  In  Pittsburg, 
Kingsley  House  instituted  a rigorous  search  for  substi- 
tutes in  the  Ninth,  Tenth,  and  Twelfth  Wards,  where 
sixty-four  saloons  are  located.  The  results  were  as  fol- 
lows : Fifteen  clubs  of  all  kinds,  of  which  six  were  for 
women  and  four  for  boys  ; seven  libraries,  of  which  three 
were  fairly  large  and  well  graded  and  three  were  Carne- 
gie home  libraries  for  children  ; three  pool-rooms  ; three 
nickel  lunch  establishments,  two  lunch  wagons,  five 
small  lunch  counters,  a few  cheap  restaurants,  and  four 
cheap  lodging-houses.  This  was  all  beside  the  educa- 
tional work  of  the  settlement.  In  the  Fifteenth  As- 
sembly District  in  New  York  City,  Hartley  House  dis- 
covered three  workingmen’s  clubs,  three  boys’  clubs, 
two  political  clubs,  a singing  society,  a mission,  and 
four  restaurants  of  a social  nature.  After  making  all 
allowance  for  the  influence  of  institutions  situated  out- 
side the  district  upon  the  life  of  the  people  within  it, 
and  conceding  that  these  districts  may  be  more  poorly 
supplied  with  substitutes  than  others  in  the  same  cities, 
it  will  still  be  seen  how  small  an  impression  these  en- 
terprises must  make  upon  the  total  life  of  the  commu- 
nity. 

The  reasons  for  the  scarcity  of  social  substitutes  are 
many.  The  chief  reason  doubtless  why  substitutes  have 
not  kept  pace  with  existing  conditions  is  the  phenome- 
nal growth  of  our  American  cities.  The  census  of  1890 


LEGISLATION  AND  SUBSTITUTION. 


39 


demonstrated  that  over  27  per  cent  of  the  entire  pop- 
ulation of  the  United  States  were  in  the  400  towns  of 
over  8000  population,  while  as  many  as  28  cities  had 
over  100,000  population.  At  present  there  are  39  cities 
in  the  latter  class,  and  159  cities  have  a population  of 
25,000  and  over.  New  York  has  3,437,202  with  its 
extended  boundaries,  Chicago  1,698,575,  Philadelphia 
1,293,697,  while  St.  Louis,  Boston,  and  Baltimore  have 
each  over  half  a million.  The  following  table  shows 
the  increase  of  urban  population  during  the  past 
twenty  years : — 


m 

Population. 

s 

eS 

tH 

© 

a 

© 

© 

Classified  Sizes. 

5 

O 

6 

1900. 

1890. 

1880. 

Per  cent  of  In 

1890-1‘JOO. 

1 Per  cent  of  In 

1880-1890. 

Cities  of  200,000  or  more 

19 

11,795,809 

8,879,105 

6,311,653 

32.8 

40.6 

Cities  of  100,000  and  under 
200,000 

19 

2,412,538 

1,808,656 

1,009,163 

33.3 

79.2 

Cities  of  50,000  and  under 
100,000 

40 

2,709,338 

2,067,169 

1,368,309 

31.0 

51.0 

Cities  of  25,000  and  under 
50,000 

81 

2,776,940 

2,100,559 

1,244,802 

33.2 

68.7 

Totais 

159 

19,694,625 

14,855,489 

9,933,927 

32.5 

49.5 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  philanthropy  has  been 
unable  to  keep  up  with  this  rapid  development.  I 

That  many  saloon  substitutes  are  not  and  perhaps  i 
cannot  be  made  to  be  paying  investments  for  capital  is 
another  obstacle.  An  exception  must  be  made  of  model 
tenements,  since  recent  experiments  in  providing  for 
the  housing  of  the  poor  have  proved  that  these,  a most 
important  substitute,  can  pay  an  interest  upon  money 
invested.  An  exception  must  also  be  made  of  the 


40 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


investment  of  capital  by  manufacturers  wMcb  tends 
directly  to  the  betterment  of  tbeir  employees.  Social 
experiments  in  this  direction  have  undoubtedly  demon- 
strated that  the  money  invested  yields  very  ample 
return  in  the  quality  and  increased  amount  of  the  work 
performed  by  the  employees.  But  the  financial  diffi- 
culty is  and  always  must  be  so  great  that  it  is  probable 
that  the  conditions  never  can  be  successfully  met  until 
the  municipality  controls  its  own  liquor  business  and 
expends  the  profits  upon  the  establishment  of  social 
centres  for  the  people.  The  tax  is  too  great  to  be  borne 
at  present  by  the  municipal  treasury  or  by  private 
philanthropy.  But  if  the  enormous  profit  from  the 
drink  traffic  could  be  diverted  into  the  legitimate  work 
of  establishing  centres  of  recreation  for  the  people,  an 
immense  progress  could  be  made  towards  social  reform.^ 
A minute  examination  into  the  different  kinds  of  social 
recreation  needed  by  the  people  seems  to  demonstrate 
afresh  the  necessity  of  such  liquor  legislation  for  large 
cities  as  will  both  limit  the  social  features  of  the  saloon 
and  divert  the  jjrofit  of  the  drink  traffic  into  providing 
social  centres  to  take  its  place. 

But  the  whole  trouble  does  not  consist  alone  in  the 
small  number  of  these  social  enterprises,  but  in  their 
inability  for  one  reason  or  another  seriously  to  attract 
and  permanently  to  retain  the  attention  of  the  people. 
An  interesting  experiment  showing  the  opinion  in  which 
these  substitutes  are  actually  held  by  the  people  was 
recently  tried  at  the  Elmira  Eeformatory.  At  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Ethics  class  held  in  that  institution  one 

^ For  a practical  demonstration  of  the  working'  of  the  system,  see 
The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Peform,  pp.  393-418. 


LEGISLATION  AND  SUBSTITUTION. 


41 


Sunday  evening,  a class  of  three  hundred  intelligent 
adults  averaging  twenty-one  years  of  age,  the  subject  of 
the  “ Liquor  Saloon  Ethically  Considered  ” was  up  for 
discussion.  It  was  hoped  that  the  men  would  discuss 
the  substitutes  proposed,  and  there  was  placed  upon  a 
large  blackboard  an  analyzed  list  of  thirty-two  of  them. 
The  substitutes  attracted  only  a smile,  not  of  contempt, 
but  of  indifference.  These  habitues  of  saloons  were 
not  impressed  or  seriously  interested  in  the  substitutes 
proposed.  The  discussion  ranged  about  the  saloon 
itself,  its  dangers  and  disadvantages  and  the  benefits 
to  be  derived  from  it.  This  test  was  a fair  one,  and 
doubtless  represents  the  actual  opinion  of  the  laboring 
man  upon  existing  social  substitutes.  It  is  to  be  ques- 
tioned if  the  saloon-keepers  themselves  actually  dread 
very  many  of  the  present-day  efforts  to  compete  with 
the  saloon,  and  instances  are  not  unknown  where  they 
have  actually  contributed  to  their  support. 

If  we  ask  why  it  is  that  social  substitutes  ai^^  so  often 
ineffective,  different  answers  must  be  given. ' ' For  one 
thing,  too  little  account  is  taken  of  a man’s  social  nature. 
The  experiments  are  often  those  of  the  doctrinaire  and 
not  of  the  observer  of  actual  conditions.  ) The  beginning 
is  made  not  from  within,  but  from  without.  Many  of 
the  people  who  work  against  the  saloons  are  much 
more  ready  to  talk  to  or  at  a man  than  to  talk  with 
him,  forgetting  that  the  primary  need  is  companionship. 
Men  will  not  largely  patronize  a place  where  the  feeling 
prevails  that  some  one  is  doing  something  for  them.; 
The  workingman  rightly  resents  the  intrusion  of  the 
philanthropic  or  religious  idea.  The  saloons,  on  the 
other  hand,  interpret  the  needs  of  their  constituents 


42 


SUBSTITUTES  EOR  THE  SALOON. 


accurately  because  they  know  them  intimately.  They 
exercise  much  ingenuity,  as  we  have  seen,  and  no  little 
discrimination  in  supplying  attractions.  The  majority 
of  those  who  are  attached  to  the  saloon  do  not,  per- 
haps  cannot,  analyze  the  cause  of  its  attractiveness,  but 
) they  feel  the  difference  between  the  warmth  and  cheer 
of  the  saloon  and  the  repellent  atmosphere  of  many  of 
the  substitutes. 

The  location  of  saloons  is  in  their  favor.  They  are 
commonly  placed  on  the  street  corner  and  invariably 
occupy  the  ground  floor.  Substitutes  are  often  located 
in  out  of  the  way  places,  or  upon  the  upper  floor  of 
some  building,  where  they  cannot  be  seen  from  the 
streets.  Saloons  are  open  eighteen  or  nineteen  hours 
out  of  every  twenty-four.  Substitutes  often  close  their 
doors  when  men  would  be  most  likely  to  enter. 

Another  reason  for  the  failure  of  social  substitutes  is 
the  lack  of  cooperation  among  them.  It  has  not  been 
at  all  an  uncommon  experience  to  find  social  workers 
ignorant  of  each  other’s  existence  or  distrustful  of  each 
other’s  methods.  On  the  other  hand,  the  proprietors  of 
the  saloons  and  their  backers  are  fully  aware  of  their 
common  interests  and  stand  closely  together  for  mutual 
protection. 

The  gravest  problem,  however,  that  confronts  the 
success  of  any  social  substitute  for  the  saloon  is  the 
problem  of  drink.  Whether  substitutes  can  expect  to 
make  appreciable  inroads  upon  the  patronage  of  the 
saloon  without  offering  any  form  of  stimulant  is  an 
open  question.  Soft  drinks  are  not  a substitute  for 
alcoholic  beverages.  A drink  containing  an  amount 
of  alcohol  sufficient  to  please  the  palate  without  at  the 


LEGISLATION  AND  SUBSTITUTION. 


43 


same  time  causing  intoxication  has  not  yet  been  dis- 
covered. The  situation  must  he  faced  that,  especially 
among  the  foreign  population,  the  drinking  of  alcoholic 
beverages  is  well-nigh  universal.  Beer  is  the  common 
beverage  of  the  working  people.  The  secretary  of  a 
German  order  in  Chicago  said  that  he  personally  could 
not  recall  a single  German  family  in  which  beer  was  not 
used.  The  laboring  people  of  many  nationalities  give 
beer  to  their  children  as  others  do  milk.  “You  can 
depend  on  the  beer,  but  you  can’t  tell  about  the  milk 
you  get  down  here,”  one  man  remarked.  It  is  probably 
true  that  certain  of  the  most  effectual  substitutes  for 
the  saloon  which  actually  exist  in  many  of  our  large 
cities  are  not  the  strictly  temperance  agencies,  but  those 
which  permit  a moderate  use  of  mild  forms  of  liquor 
and  regulate  very  carefully  its  consumption.  The  chief 
objection  to  any  plan,  however,  of  attracting  people  to 
a place  where  intoxicating  beverages  are  for  sale  is  the 
danger  of  thwarting  the  very  object  of  substitution. 
Yet  it  would  be  going  too  far  to  say  that  this  must 
always  be  the  case.  This  difficult  question  must  be 
dealt  with  according  to  the  nature  of  the  substitute  and 
the  habits  of  the  people  for  whom  the  substitute  is 
proposed. 

To  compete  with  the  saloon,  therefore,  by  the  method 
of  substitution,  many  different  elements,  all  of  which 
enter  into  the  problem,  must  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion. An  earnest  attempt  to  provide  for  the  social 
needs  of  any  community  will  begin  by  carefully  study- 
ing local  conditions.  Some  social  life  will  be  dis- 
covered already  existing,  and  the  effort  will  be  made 
to  stimulate  this  from  within,  avoiding  all  semblance 


44 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


of  outer  reform.  New  social  enterprises  will  then 
gradually  be  added,  adapted  to  the  particular  needs  of 
the  community.  These  substitutes  will  assume  many 
different  forms,  and  present  many  perplexing  problems. 
In  the  following  chapters  the  effort  will  be  to  state 
the  practical  results  of  a variety  of  experiments,  and  to 
suggest  possible  methods  of  rivaling  the  social  attrac- 
tions of  the  saloon. 


CHAPTER  in. 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

One  of  tlie  first  demands  whicli  the  saloon  satisfies 
is  the  desire  for  the  companionship  of  one’s  fellows. 
The  saloon,  however  much  it  has  departed  from  its  an- 
cestral pattern,  still  performs  the  function  of  the  ancient 
tavern  ; it  is  the  same  common  centre  where  the  isolated 
personal  experience  is  merged  in  the  common  lot  of  all. 
The  tavern  instinct  of  our  Saxon  forefathers  is  the 
chief  impulse,  aside  from  the  desire  for  the  drink  itself, 
which  draws  their  hosts  within  the  saloons  that  line 
our  streets.  This  instinct  must  be  reckoned  with.  It 
is  deep-seated,  and  will  resist  to  the  end  any  effort  to 
deprive  it  of  the  means  of  its  satisfaction.  It  is  a 
strong  opponent  of  the  temperance  agitator  who  advo- 
cates the  unconditional  and  immediate  abolishment  of 
the  saloon,  and  the  strength  of  the  resistance  is  in  pro- 
portion to  the  reality  of  the  human  need  which  it  repre- 
sents. The  saloon  is  the  centre  of  the  social  life  of 
hundi’eds  of  thousands  of  the  dwellers  in  our  cities. 

If  the  question  is  asked.  Where  do  the  other  thou- 
sands who  are  not  patrons  of  the  saloon  find  their  social 
recreation  ? the  answer  is  easy.  They  have  comfort- 
able homes.  They  have  sufficient  means  to  secui’e  a 
large  variety  of  social  enjoyment.  In  quest  for  the 
society  of  their  fellows,  they  step  from  their  homes  to 
their  clubs.  The  word  “ club  ” suggests  the  group,  the 


46 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


circle  just  beyond  the  family,  to  which  belong  immedi- 
ate friends  and  neighbors,  those  associated  by  business 
ties,  by  political  or  by  social  sympathies.  The  multi- 
plication and  development  of  these  groups  form  an 
interesting  chapter  in  recent  social  history.  This 
development  has  followed  naturally  the  phenomenal 
growth  of  urban  population.  Where  a district  is  more 
sparsely  inhabited,  the  relations  are  more  personal  and 
less  artificial,  but  where  thousands  are  thrown  together 
within  a limited  area,  the  social  relation  must  be  in 
groups,  to  which  belong  those  whom  some  common  in- 
terest unites. 

Such  is  the  genesis  of  the  modern  club,  which  forms 
such  a prominent  feature  of  city  life.  Even  homes  of 
luxury  and  refinement  do  not  suffice  to  satisfy  the  so- 
cial instinct.  Little  wonder,  then,  if  what  seems  neces- 
sary and  attractive  to  a rich  man  should  be  even  more 
indispensable  to  those  whose  homes  lack  the  most 
meagi’e  comforts. 

A serious  difficulty  which  confronts  all  the  clubs  of 
the  working  people  is  the  lack  of  suitable  club-rooms. 
This  difficulty  is  not  felt  by  the  rich,  by  the  men  of 
moderate  means,  or  by  the  clerks  or  skilled  workmen 
in  any  jirofession  ; but  it  becomes  a problem  to  the 
great  number  of  unskilled  laboring  men.  The  wage 
which  barely  suffices  to  support  the  family  does  not 
admit  an  extra  charge  for  the  rental  of  a club-room 
however  modest  that  may  be.  It  is  just  here  that  the 
saloon  makes  its  appeal.  Here  is  a club  with  no  rental 
to  pay,  where  a man  has  that  same  satisfaction  which 
his  rich  neighbor  finds  in  his  club-rooms.  Here  groups 
are  natm'ally  formed  from  among  those  habitually  meet- 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


47 


ing  in  the  same  place.  Hither  groups  already  formed 
come  to  meet  because  they  have  no  other  shelter.  The 
saloon  has  been  quick  to  see  its  advantage  and  to  make 
the  most  of  it.  The  process  by  which  its  hold  is  in- 
creased through  the  club  instinct  which  it  fosters  and 
satisfies  is  an  interesting  study. 

This  process  begins  with  the  boys,  who  already  possess 
the  ins^nct  for  organization.  Nearly  every  boy  in  all 
our  cities  has  his  club  of  intimate  friends.  This  club 
is  familiarly  called  “the  gang”  or  “the  push;”  and 
these  clubs  all  taken  together  form  the  source  of  that 
great  stream  which  a few  years  later  fills  the  saloon, 
packs  the  primary,  crowds  the  docket  and  the  prison. 
The  life  of  these  clubs  is  very  simple.  Their  chief  aim 
seems  to  be  to  avoid  the  police,  and  to  perform  all 
kinds  of  “ stunts  ” on  the  streets,  in  vacant  lots,  or 
wherever  they  can  find  a field  of  operation.  A leader, 
selected  by  virtue  of  his  native  ability  rather  than  by 
formal  ballot,  a signal,  and  a rendezvous  are  the  only 
essentials  of  their  organization.  Any  one  who  can  run 
is  eligible  for  membership.  The  meeting-place  is  the 
“corner,”  the  wharf,  or  the  street  in  summer,  and  in 
winter,  a lumber  jjile,  a shed,  or  some  deserted  build- 
ing. “Nightly,  after  supper,  the  boys  drift  to  their 
corner,  ^ not  by  appointment,  but  naturally.  Then  en- 
sue idle  talk,  jawing-matehes,  rough  jokes,  and  horse- 
play. No  eccentric  individual  gets  by  the  gang  with- 
out insult.  Nearly  every  gang  has  ‘ talent,’  one  or  two 
members  who  can  sing,  pei’haps  a quartette,  also  a buck- 
dancer,  one  or  two  who  can  play  on  the  jews’-harp, 
and  a funny  man.  Not  infrequently  the  singing,  the 
1 The  City  Wilderness,  p.  116. 


48 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


horse-play,  or  the  dancing  is  interrupted  by  the  rounds- 
man. At  the  sight  of  the  brass  buttons  there  is  an 
excited  call  of  ‘ Cheese  it ! ’ and  singing  or  talking,  as  it 
may  be,  is  suddenly  stopped ; the  gang  disbands,  dis- 
solves, and  the  boys  flee  down  alleys,  into  doorsteps 
and  curious  hiding-places,  and  reappear  only  when  the 
‘ cop  ’ is  well  down  the  street.”  Where  the  boys  have 
an  indoor  meeting-place,  a little  home-made  apparatus 
for  a “ gym  ” is  often  found.  As  a rule,  however,  the 
telephone  poles  and  the  cables  which  they  support  form 
their  principal  gymnasium.  Smoking  is  the  rule,  for 
cigarettes  have  a strong  hold,  and  spare  pennies  are 
commonly  invested  in  them  or  in  dime  novels.  Such 
are  the  clubs  of  our  street  boys. 

The  saloon  begins  at  the  very  start  to  get  hold  of 
the  people  and  to  provide  for  their  social  life.  Where 
the  boys  are  driven  about  the  streets  like  so  many 
vagrant  animals,  the  saloon  opens  for  them  a bright 
' and  cheery  refuge.  At  an  early  age  they  are  saloon 
patrons,  for  the  law  prohibiting  sales  to  minors  is  com- 
V monly  disregarded.  In  Chicago  and  other  cities  rooms 
furnished  with  billiai’d  and  pool  tables,  cards  and  other 
games  are  often  placed  at  their  disposal.  A low  price 
is  charged  for  a game  of  billiards,  and  five  cents  will 
always  pay  for  a glass  of  beer.  Thus  the  boys  begin 
the  drink  habit,  and  become  frequenters  of  the  saloon. 

The  young  men’s  social  or  pleasure  clubs  represent 
doubtless,  by  a process  of  natural  selection,  the  best  of 
the  boys’  clubs,  such  as  have  not  been  broken  up  by 
acts  of  disorder  or  by  a process  of  general  disintegra- 
tion. Club  life  now  takes  on  the  more  dignified  form 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


49 


of  a definite  organization,  altliough  the  purpose  may  be 
vague.  As  one  young  man  expressed  it,  “ The  police- 
man would  n’t  let  us  stand  on  the  corner,  so  we  thought 
we ’d  get  together  and  form  a club.”  The  club  meets 
in  some  inexpensive  room  furnished  according  to  the 
means  of  the  members.  If  the  club  membership  is 
large  enough,  an  entire  house  may  be  hired  and  fur- 
nished. The  rooms  serve  as  a loafing  - place  for  the 
members,  and  also  as  a place  for  occasional  social  enter- 
tainments. In  the  poorer  of  these  clubs  there  is  nothing 
to  attract  but  the  bare  room  itself,  with  its  chairs  and 
card  tables.  Sometimes  a ring  and  boxing-gloves  be- 
tray the  character  of  the  club.  Pictures  of  “ Pompa- 
dour Jim  ” and  other  celebrities  of  the  ring  and  stage 
adorn  the  walls.  In  the  better  clubs  the  rooms  are 
carpeted.  There  is  a piano,  a small  collection  of  books, 
and  some  gymnastic  apparatus.  There  are  all  kinds  of 
clubs,  recreative,  political,  dancing,  athletic,  bicycle, 
and  even  literary  clubs.  All  of  them,  however,  are 
social  organizations,  since  the  special  activity  occupies 
hut  a subordinate  place  in  the  club  life.  To  the  club- 
rooms  the  members  come  each  evening  to  play  cards,  to 
smoke,  and  to  have  a good  time.  Occasionally  enter- 
tainments are  provided,  consisting  of  comic  songs,  buck- 
dancing, story-telling,  etc.  The  “ girls  ” are  often  in- 
vited to  these  entertainments.  All  the  clubs  have 
their  annual  balls,  and  many  have  picnics  or  outings  in 
the  summer,  offering  prizes  for  athletic  competition. 
The  character  of  the  annual  balls  differs  with  the 
character  of  the  clubs.  Some  of  them  are  doubtless 
thoroughly  orderly  and  respectable ; others  are  fre- 
quented by  bad  women,  and  intoxication  is  common. 


50 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


The  number  of  these  clubs  in  any  city  is  extremely 
difficult  to  estimate.  Their  existence  is  at  best  a pre- 
carious one,  and  they  are  often  broken  up  because  of 
disorder,  or  the  failure  of  members  to  pay  their  dues. 
A careful  census  would  reveal  a large  number  of  them. 
In  Philadelphia  the  number  was  estimated  at  seven 
hundred,  and  in  Cincinnati  at  one  thousand.  It  would 
not  be  too  much  to  say  that  in  the  poorer  sections  of 
any  large  city,  at  least  one  club  would  be  found  exist- 
ing to  every  hundred  young  men  in  the  district. 

The  bicycle  club  does  not  differ  in  its  general  form 
of  organization  and  social  activity  from  any  other 
social  club.  The  members  make  the  house  their  meet- 
ing and  loafing  place  in  the  evenings  and  during  the 
idle  hours.  Some  of  them  began  as  social  clubs  and 
upon  application  were  admitted  into  the  Association  of 
Bicycling  Clubs.  Nearly  all  of  them  have  their  rooms 
open  the  year  round.  It  is  on  Saturday  afternoons  and 
on  Sundays  that  these  clubs  are  especially  active,  but 
the  members  seem  to  “ drop  around  evenings  ” pretty 
regularly.  As  regards  the  drink  habit,  it  is  not  likely 
that  any  distinction  can  be  made  between  these  and 
other  social  clubs.  The  idea  that  the  athletic  bias 
leads  to  abstinence  is  a plausible  but  unfortunately 
not  a tenable  hypothesis.  lYhen  the  cycling  season 
begins,  the  road-house  or  the  brewery  profits  where  the 
saloon  loses.  A member  of  one  club  said  that  when 
runs  are  held  a keg  of  beer  is  opened,  as  a rule,  for 
from  thirty  to  thirty-five  riders. 

The  value  of  all  of  these  young  men’s  clubs  as  social 
substitutes  depends  on  the  degree  to  which  the  drink 
habit  prevails,  and  upon  their  relation  to  the  saloon. 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


51 


Few  members  of  any  of  these  chibs  are  total  abstainers. 
At  this  age  they  are  fully  accustomed  to  their  drink. 
A certain  proportion  of  the  clubs  doubtless  exist  solely 
for  the  purpose  of  social  drinking.  The  members 
meet  at  their  clubs  rather  than  at  the  saloon,  only 
because  it  is  a more  comfortable  way  to  drink.  It  is 
sometimes  difficult  to  obtain  Sunday  beer  from  the 
saloons.  In  the  clubs  it  can  be  bought  in  advance 
and  freely  dispensed  to  all  comers.  At  the  balls  and 
entertainments  intoxication  is  very  common.  The 
dance  hall  is  sometimes  offered  free  of  charge  by  the 
brewing  companies  that  sujiply  the  beer.  Some  of  the 
clubs  are  regularly  licensed  and  have  bars  of  their 
own,  but  this  is  not  common.  Where  the  license  is 
obtained,  the  consumption  of  liquor  is  generally  very 
great.  Liquor  selling  to  members  has  always  been 
an  easy  way  to  raise  revenue  among  rich  and  poor 
licensed  clubs  alike.  It  would  probably  be  found  to 
be  true  of  them  all,  that  the  sale  of  liquor  alone  suf- 
fices to  pay  the  running  expenses  of  the  club. 

The  relation  of  these  clubs  to  the  saloon  calls  for 
comment.  It  would  be  going  too  far  to  say  that  the 
saloon-keeper  always  views  them  with  a friendly  eye. 
It  all  depends  upon  the  influence  that  he  can  obtain 
over  them.  If  this  is  slight,  then  they  become  his 
rivals,  for  either  they  foster  sobriety,  or  else  the  money 
that  used  to  find  its  way  into  the  tills  of  the  saloon  is 
now  paid  directly  to  the  brewer.  But  any  hostility 
which  the  saloon-keeper  feels  is  carefully  concealed. 
He  tries  in  every  way  to  connect  the  clubs  with  his 
saloon.  He  throws  open  his  rooms  for  entertainments, 
provides  music  for  dances  free  of  charge,  or  offers  at  a 


52 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


small  cost  a much  larger  and  better  club-room  than  could 
be  obtained  elsewhere  for  a large  rental.  Sometimes 
he  makes  an  effort  himself  to  organize  such  clubs  and 
have  them  meet  at  different  nights  in  his  saloon. 
Either  he  or  the  bartender  is,  in  nearly  every  instance, 
a member  of  the  club. 

Aside  from  the  question  of  drunkenness,  it  is  doubt- 
less true  that  the  moral  tone  of  many  of  the  pleasure 
clubs  is  very  low.  There  is  published  in  Chicago  a 
leaflet  called  the  “West  Side  Amusement  World,” 
issued  weekly.  On  the  inside  cover  is  printed  a list 
of  about  seventy  of  these  pleasure  and  sporting  clubs. 
The  six  columns  of  “ Club  Boys’  Gossip  ” that  follow 
are  the  quintessence  of  a cheap  and  disgusting  vulgar- 
ity that  mirrors  a very  low  order  both  of  intelligence 
and  morality.  If  the  paper  represents  fairly  the  life 
of  these  Chicago  clubs,  there  is  little  good  that  can  be 
said  of  them.  Probably  many  of  them  are  above  the 
level  of  their  “ organ,”  but  very  often  one  would 
look  in  vain  to  these  clubs  for  anything  even  nega- 
tively creditable. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  all  this.  For  one  thing, 
it  must  be  said  in  all  fairness,  the  clubs  of  the  poor 
will  probably  bear  very  favorable  comparison  with 
those  of  the  rich  both  as  regards  intoxication  and 
social  vice.  In  some  of  them  liquor  is  absolutely 
prohibited  ; in  many  more,  drunkenness  is  a rare  occur- 
rence. If  the  rooms  are  well  furnished,  it  becomes  of 
personal  interest  to  the  members  to  protect  the  joint 
property  from  damage  such  as  drimken  carousing 
always  carries  with  it.  Then,  too,  a club  does  not  like 
to  acquire  a reputation  for  drinking,  nor  to  arouse  the 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


53 


suspicion  that  it  is  selling  liquor  contrary  to  law.  The 
self-respecting  clubs  have  no  connection  with  the  sa- 
loons, and  discourage  their  members  from  patronizing 
them,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  a certain  amount 
of  respectability  is  necessary  for  existence.  These 
clubs  in  a sense  are  self-regulating.  Their  evolution 
must  tend  either  to  respectability  or  to  early  extinc- 
tion. As  a rule,  they  recognize  this  and  keep  within 
certain  limits.  The  penalty  of  failure  is  the  forfeiture 
of  their  existence.  Again,  one  must  remember  that 
the  alternative  of  these  clubs  is  not  the  Christian 
Association  rooms  or  the  parish  house,  but  the  saloon. 
The  more  one  studies  them,  the  less  inclined  one  is 
to  condemn  them  as  a whole.  Some  of  them  re- 
present an  earnest  effort  on  the  part  of  their  mem- 
bers to  provide  a helpful  kind  of  club  life  in  a small 
way.  They  mark  the  first  effort  of  the  working  people 
to  get,  as  one  of  them  expressed  it,  “ on  their  own 
social  resources.”  The  feeling  of  club  pride  which 
certainly  exists  is  in  itself  some  guarantee  of  good. 
Yet  what  impresses  one  the  most,  as  one  considers 
these  clubs  in  the  aggregate,  is  neither  the  good  nor 
the  bad  that  is  in  them,  but  rather  the  opportunity 
for  social  service  which  they  present. 

Young  men  rarely  remain  after  marriage  in  the 
clubs  which  we  have  just  been  describing.  The  mar- 
ried man  has  clubs  of  his  own,  but  they  cease  to  be 
purely  social  or  pleasure  clubs.  Some  more  serious  or 
definite  purpose  now  enters  into  his  conception  of  a 
club.  It  is  probable  that  life  itself  becomes  a more 
serious  thing  to  him,  and  he  is  brought  to  face  and  to 


54 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


deal  personally  with  conditions  which  before  now  have 
not  concerned  him. 

One  of  these  purposes  which  serve  to  bring  men  to- 
gether is  inherent  in  our  democratic  form  of  govern- 
ment. Politics  is  a common  bond  everywhere,  but 
nowhere  more  strikingly  than  in  America.  Unfortu- 
nately what  might  be  a helpful  and  educative  form  of 
association  has,  under  the  well-known  system  of  poli- 
tics now  operative  in  our  large  cities,  become  very 
unsatisfactory  and  even  hurtful  in  its  effects.  The 
“ political  club,”  as  it  exists  among  the  poorer  people 
in  all  large  centres  of  population,  is  not  a forum  for 
the  discussion  of  current  issues  so  much  as  a conven- 
ient means  for  “ bunching  ” votes  for  the  next  election. 
The  number  and  activity  of  these  clubs  depend  directly 
upon  the  nearness  and  the  importance  of  the  election. 
Some  clubs  revive  only  at  the  approach  of  the  cam- 
paign, in  order  to  share  the  bounty  of  the  politician. 
Few  clubs  can  resist  the  pecuniary  offers  of  a political 
campaign.  In  fact,  such  readiness  to  improve  the 
opportunity  has  become  almost  a matter  of  course. 
From  what  has  been  said  of  the  relation  of  the  saloon 
to  politics,  it  may  be  gathered  that  the  influence  of 
the  saloon  upon  such  clubs  is  considerable.  It  is  the 
exception  to  find  the  political  clubs  without  a bar  or 
without  some  visible  connection  with  the  saloon.  For 
a gTeat  many  of  these  clubs,  it  serves  as  the  headquar- 
ters. Many  more  are  harbored  in  rooms  furnished  for 
the  purpose,  and  in  a still  larger  number  the  saloon- 
keeper is  an  influential  factor  even  if  he  is  not  a mem- 
ber or  an  official.  For  these  reasons  political  clubs 
cannot  rank  high  as  social  substitutes  for  the  saloon. 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


55 


An  exception  must  be  made  perhaps  of  one  form  of 
political  association  in  whose  clubs  the  educational  ele- 
ment is  decidedly  in  evidence.  The  growing  impor- 
tance of  the  socialist  or  socialist  labor  party  is  inter- 
esting from  many  points  of  view.  For  our  purpose  it 
is  sufficient  to  note  that  the  object  sought  for  does 
unite  the  men  in  a very  real  and  earnest  way.  They 
represent  the  collective  expression  of  the  thoughtful 
workingman  of  a certain  type.  They  are  not  a great 
factor  in  the  life  of  the  city,  and  do  not  attract  the 
more  practical  wage-earners  just  because  they  are 
idealistic  and  care  less  about  immediate  results  than 
about  ultimate  principles.  “We  can  afford  to  wait” 
is  a word  one  hears  often  among  them.  They  labor  to 
advance  the  cause  of  scientific  socialism  by  means  of 
lectures,  debates,  papers,  and  other  educational  meth- 
ods. This  is  seen  in  the  names  of  the  clubs.  They 
are  “The  Working  Men’s  Educational  Club,”  “The 
Socialists’  Educational  Club,”  or  “ The  Socialist  Lit- 
erary Club.”  The  men  are  usually  middle-aged,  and 
the  majority  of  them  are  often  foreigners.  Their  or- 
ganization is  a loose  one,  and  they  welcome  any  who 
cai*e  to  come  to  their  lectures  and  discussions.  These 
form  the  chief  feature  of  their  club  life,  although 
other  means  of  recreation  are  sometimes  provided  in 
their  rooms,  which  are  usually  the  headquarters  of  their 
party  in  the  district  in  which  the  club  is  located.  But 
the  social  features  seem  intended  chiefly  to  make  the 
club  an  attractive  rendezvous  as  a place  for  the  teach- 
ing of  socialism.  Some  of  the  clubs  are  very  large, 
counting  over  one  thousand  members.  They  gather 
each  evening  and  on  Sundays  by  the  hundred  in 


56 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


their  rooms  and  engage  in  discussions  or  carry  on 
regular  class-work.  Their  meeting-place,  like  that  of 
all  other  clubs  of  which  we  have  spoken,  is  often  in 
or  over  the  saloon,  where  they  are  expected  to  “ drop  ” 
fifteen  or  twenty  cents  a night  per  member.  The  ten- 
dency and  the  wish  of  the  officers  and  better  class  of 
members  is  to  move  into  quarters  of  their  own,  hut 
these  are  hard  to  find,  and  members  object  to  paying 
more  for  rent  than  seems  to  he  necessary.  Clubs  of 
this  kind  furnish  the  educational  stimulus  in  the  lives 
of  their  members,  and  the  fact  that  their  activity  is 
not  intermittent,  like  that  of  many  other  political  clubs, 
distinguishes  them,  and  gives  them  a special  value  in 
the  movement  for  displacing  the  saloons. 

Another  purpose  which  furnishes  a bond  of  union 
among  workingmen  is  their  work  itself  and  the  con- 
ditions which  affect  it.  Here  is  a common  platform 
which  excludes  none  hut  the  very  lowest  members  of 
the  social  order.  The  different  trade  unions  repre- 
sent a solid  constituency  of  nearly  a million  wage- 
earners  devoted  to  the  object  of  their  organization, 
with  a firm  control  over  their  members,  and  a consti- 
tution which  compels  allegiance.  We  are  dealing  here 
with  a social  phenomenon  meriting  our  most  careful 
attention.  The  attitude  of  this  great  body  of  laboring 
men  toward  the  saloon  is  of  the  utmost  importance. 
It  has  been  felt  for  some  time  that  organized  labor 
largely  holds  the  key  to  the  situation  in  its  own  hands  ; 
that  when  the  w^age-earner  perceives  it  to  he  for  his 
own  good  to  sever  connection  with  the  liquor  traffic, 
the  great  hold  of  the  saloon  upon  the  community  must 
he  appreciably  lessened  ; but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


57 


workingmen  show  no  power  of  initiation  in  their  own 
behalf,  then  the  reformers  are  dealing  with  a dead 
weight.  The  question  which  arises  is,  What  is  the  at- 
titude of  this  great  body  of  workingmen  toward  the 
saloon,  and  what  influence  is  it  exerting  to  lessen  the 
hold  of  the  saloon  upon  its  members  and  to  provide  for 
them  social  opportunities  apart  from  it  ? 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  certain  that  the  life  of  any 
trade  union  is  penetrated  with  a very  earnest  purpose. 
Its  ultimate  desire  is  the  welfare  of  its  members  in  a 
very  large  sense.  At  its  best  the  aim  is  neither  too 
broad  nor  too  narrow.  Its  programme  does  not  reach 
to  wide  and  shadowy  schemes  for  social  reform,  nor 
content  itself  simply  with  a clamor  for  more  wage 
and  fewer  hours.  Labor  leaders  to-day  have  a direct 
thought  for  the  better  moral  condition  of  the  working- 
men of  the  country.  The  union,  although  intensely 
clannish  and  self-centred  within  its  bounds,  seeks  to 
evolve  a more  intelligent  order  of  workingmen,  to 
raise  the  character  and  the  capacity  of  skilled  labor  in 
all  its  varied  branches. 

An  isolated  laboring  man,  exposed  to  all  the  tempta- 
tions of  his  environment,  is  taken  up,  on  becoming  a 
member  of  a trade  union,  into  a higher  order  of  corpo- 
rate life.  He  finds  himself  invested  with  the  dignity  of 
his  order.  He  is  less  inclined  to  waste  his  time  and 
money  in  the  saloon,  to  weaken  his  character  and  de- 
stroy his  usefulness  by  intoxication  ; he  is  more  inclined 
to  economy  and  to  self-respect  ; he  enters  more  and 
more  into  the  life  and  aims  of  his  order,  and  finds 
himself  upon  a plane  where  the  coarser  appeals  of 
the  saloon  fail  to  move  him.  His  spare  time  is  now 


58 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


occupied,  and  he  is  kept  busy  between  meetings.  The 
trade-union  papers  are  made  the  starting-point  for  dis- 
cussions of  larger  questions  of  state  or  national  policy 
having  a lively  interest  in  their  bearing  upon  the  wel- 
fare of  their  little  group.  Then,  too,  insurance  fees 
compel  a certain  amount  of  saving  each  month  ; and 
when  this  feature  is  absent,  frequent  assessments  are 
made  in  case  of  sickness,  accident,  or  death.  Women 
take  a lively  interest  in  the  numerous  activities  of  the 
union,  either  as  active  members  or  in  auxiliary  societies, 
as  among  the  railway  employees.  , In  aU  these  ways 
the  life  of  the  union  tends  to  raise  the  life  of  the  indi- 
vidual. It  gives  him  ideals,  education,  common  inter- 
ests, fraternal  feeling  and  responsibility  for  the  welfare 
of  others.  Imagine  some  such  influence  at  work  among 
a million  wage-earners  of  the  country,  and  its  effect  in 
raising  them  above  the  common  saloon  level  can  be 
felt  even  if  it  cannot  be  estimated  in  fixed  terms.  By 
its  very  object,  the  trade  union  seems  pledged  to  in- 
crease sobriety  among  its  members. 

But  we  may  go  further  than  this.  Nearly  all  of  the 
unions  have  well-defined  constitutions.  In  most  of 
them  the  attitude  of  the  union  toward  the  liquor  traffic 
is  clearly  set  forth,  and  in  many  of  them  the  position  is 
made  very  emphatic.  An  inquiry  into  the  attitude  of 
organized  labor  in  the  United  States  toward  the  saloon 
has  jj-ielded  most  intei’esting  and,  we  may  say  at  once, 
most  encouraging  results.^  The  statistics  which  have 
been  obtained  by  correspondence  cover  forty-five  trade 
unions,  with  a total  membership  of  531,804,  thus  repre- 

^ This  report,  which  may  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  was  prepared 
for  the  editors  by  Dr.  E.  W.  Bemis. 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


59 


senting  nearly  two  thirds  of  the  American  unions  hav- 
ing a national  organization  and  more  than  two  thirds 
of  the  membership  of  such  organizations.  The  statistics 
show  that  one  union  in  every  five  is  by  its  constitution 
directly  opposed  to  the  saloon ; one  in  every  three  is 
at  least  generally  opposed  to  it ; while  only  about  twenty- 
five  per  cent  of  all  the  unions  seem  to  have  no  definite 
policy  in  relation  to  the  liquor  traffic.  Such  a result 
is  certainly  encouraging,  and  indicates  even  better 
things  to  come. 

When  we  look  more  directly,  however,  at  the  social 
work  which  is  being  attempted  by  the  trade  unions, 
the  outlook  is  not  so  encouraging.  In  the  first  place 
their  organization  is  not  democratic.  Laboring  men 
must  subscribe  to  the  constitution  and  swear  allegiance 
to  the  organization  before  they  can  become  members. 
As  a consequence  not  more  than  from  ten  to  twenty 
per  cent  of  the  laboring  men  of  the  country  are  at  pre- 
sent members  of  the  unions.  Again,  their  meetings 
take  place  very  infrequently  and  are  taken  up  largely 
with  routine  business.  No  union  meets  more  than 
once  a week,  and  often  the  meetings  are  held  but  once 
a month,  sometimes  only  on  call.  In  Denver  the  aver- 
age interval  is  twelve  days  between  the  meetings  of 
fifty-four  unions  of  all  kinds.  In  New  Haven,  out 
of  eighteen  unions,  forty-five  per  cent  meet  but  once 
a month,  and  forty  per  cent  once  a fortnight.  The 
rest  meet  at  irregular  intervals.  It  can  be  readily  seen 
that  under  these  circumstances  there  is  no  continuity 
of  social  life.  It  is  a rare  thing  to  find  the  rooms  of 
a union  suitable  in  any  way  for  social  meetings.  In 
New  York,  out  of  ninety  labor  organizations  which 


60 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


belong  to  the  Amalgamated  Federal  Union,  only  two  or 
three  have  social  rooms.  In  Cleveland,  the  Knights  of 
Labor  have  been  trying  for  over  a year  to  have  a gen- 
eral social  evening  once  a fortnight,  with  little  success. 
In  Chicago,  out  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  organ- 
izations, only  four  have  club-rooms  with  any  social 
features  connected  with  them.  Sometimes  when  the 
room  has  a bar  attached,  social  life  appears.  Thus  in 
the  German  unions,  which  more  commonly  than  others 
permit  the  sale  of  intoxicants,  there  is  much  more  social 
life  than  in  the  other  unions.  A ball  is  often  given 
annually,  or  a “ labor  play,”  which  necessitates  constant 
rehearsals  during  the  winter  months ; but  as  a rule 
the  social  life  of  trade  unions  is  reduced  to  a minimum. 
Just  why  this  should  be  so  is  not  easy  to  say.  It  is 
due,  at  least  in  part,  to  the  feeling  that  the  union 
stands  for  the  serious  rather  than  the  play  side  of  life. 
Our  American  unions  need  to  recognize  the  economic 
importance  of  the  right  kind  of  play  for  workingmen. 
Higher  wages  and  shorter  hours  mean  greater  opportu- 
nity for  recreation,  and  for  this  organized  labor  must 
make  provision.  Another  reason  why  more  social  life 
is  not  found  within  the  unions  is  that  they  cannot 
afford  to  pay  the  rental  for  rooms  sufficiently  ample  to 
permit  of  much  social  life.  A textile  union  which 
changed  its  place  of  meeting  to  a building  in  which  other 
social  organizations  were  accustomed  to  meet  observed 
at  once  the  benefits  of  the  amusement  features  of  the 
other  organizations,  and  voted  to  add  such  featiu’es  to 
the  programme  of  their  own  union.  It  is  very  probable 
that  many  unions  would  make  provision  for  the  social 
life  of  their  members  if  they  could  afford  suitable  meet- 
ing-places. 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


61 


Just  as  in  the  case  of  the  small  boys’  clubs,  so  with 
these  adult  and  serious  organizations  the  saloon  be- 
comes the  meeting-place.  It  is  probable  that  this  habit 
is  much  more  common  than  even  the  labor  leaders 
themselves  are  aware.  When  one  begins  to  investigate, 
the  column  foots  up  rapidly.  In  Buffalo,  an  actual 
count  showed  that  no  less  than  sixty-three  out  of 
sixty-nine  labor  organizations  held  their  meetings  in 
some  hall  connected  with  a saloon.  In  other  places 
the  preponderance  was  so  decided  as  to  discourage  the 
investigator,  who  had  thought  to  find  in  the  union  an 
effective  substitute  for  the  saloon.  The  fault,  as  we  have 
seen,  does  not  He  by  any  means  wholly  with  the  trade 
unions.  They  have  always  claimed  that  they  could  not 
find  other  suitable  places  without  putting  themselves 
under  obligation  to  institutions  of  whose  purpose  they 
did  not  entirely  approve.  This  claim  is  not  an  idle 
one.  The  head  of  a settlement  in  one  of  our  largest 
cities  has  said  that  he  could  not  recall  in  the  entire  city 
a single  hall  conveniently  located,  with  the  exception 
of  that  of  the  settlement,  which  labor  organizations 
could  obtain  at  a reasonable  price.  In  consequence, 
they  are  driven  to  the  saloons.  The  proprietor  is  only 
too  glad  to  supply  a hall  at  a very  low  rental,  and  trust 
to  his  bar  receipts  to  repay  him,  which  they  amply  do. 
A labor  leader,  himself  a total  abstainer,  once  said  ^ that 
he  felt  a sensation  akin  to  shame  when  he  passed  the 
bar  night  after  night  without  paying  his  five  cents  for 
a drink.  The  secretary  of  a trade  union  once  applied 
for  a room  in  a settlement  building  in  which  his  union 
might  meet  once  a week.  He  was  told  that  the  terms 


^ From  the  Chicago  report. 


62 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


would  be  fl50  a year.  He  said  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  pay  that  price,  since  they  were  then  paying 
for  the  privilege  of  meeting  in  a much  lai’ger  hall  the 
sum  of  but  $40  a year.  This  hall  was  connected  with 
a saloon.  Upon  inquiry,  he  admitted  that  the  average 
attendance  at  their  meetings  was  two  hundred  and 
fifty,  and  that  probably  on  an  average  the  members 
would  drink  two  glasses  of  beer  per  meeting.  It  was 
pointed  out  to  him  that  the  union  actually  paid  the 
proprietor  $25  a week  for  beer,  out  of  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  standard  estimate,  $12.50  would  be  profits, 
so  that  the  actual  amount  paid  by  the  union  was  sev- 
eral times  greater  than  the  rental  asked  for  the  hall 
not  connected  with  the  saloon.  He  admitted  the  truth 
of  this,  and  added  that  he  felt  that  the  saloon  was 
detrimental  to  the  serious  work  of  their  organization, 
but  said  that  their  members  were  so  much  accustomed 
to  the  scheme  of  indirect  taxation  by  collecting  most 
of  the  actual  room  rent  from  trade  in  beer  that  they 
would  be  alarmed  to  be  directly  taxed  for  a sum  actu- 
ally much  smaller  than  that  which  they  were  then 
paying.  In  New  York  on  Tenth  Street  is  a saloon 
known  as  the  Casino.  No  less  than  twenty-eight  asso- 
ciations of  various  kinds  meet  there  each  week  in 
rooms  connected  with  the  saloon.  The  bar-room  occu- 
pies the  front  half  of  the  basement.  On  the  walls  are 
photographs  of  members  of  the  various  clubs  and  lodges 
which  assemble  there.  About  twenty  letter-boxes  be- 
longing to  societies  are  arranged  along  one  side  of  the 
room.  Sometimes  the  saloons  will  plant  themselves 
directly  beneath  or  adjacent  to  a trade-union  hall.  It 
will  take  on  the  name  of  the  union  and  call  itself  the 


• THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


63 


“ Unionist  ” or  the  “ Building  Trades  Exchange.” 
The  men  will  get  their  meals  there,  paying  five  cents 
for  a lunch  and  a glass  of  beer,  and  stand  about  look- 
ing for  work. 

Yet  the  unions  are  not  unappreciative  of  better 
things  or  loath  to  avail  themselves  of  them.  In  Bos- 
ton the  Central  Labor  Union  has  its  headquarters  in 
the  Wells  Memorial  Institute,  in  the  South  End.  The 
Central  Federated  Union  of  New  York  recently  voted 
to  meet  in  a hall  owned  by  the  University  Settlement. 
For  eighteen  years  they  had  met  in  a dark,  dirty  hall 
over  a saloon.  After  the  first  meeting  in  their  new 
quarters,  one  of  the  men  came  to  the  head  of  the  settle- 
ment and  expressed  his  satisfaction  in  meeting  in  a 
place  which  was  clean.  One  of  the  leading  members 
also  remarked  that  he  was  confident  that  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  body  would  be  more  dignified  in  their  pre- 
sent habitation.  Shortly  after  a resolution  was  moved 
and  passed  instructing  a special  committee  to  arrange 
that  an  hour  and  a half  should  be  given  on  the  first 
Sunday  of  each  month  to  the  discussion  of  economic 
and  social  problems.  The  passage  of  such  a resolution 
so  soon  after  meeting  in  the  new  hall  is  an  interesting 
indication  of  the  progress  which  unions  would  make 
under  more  favorable  conditions.  As  American  trade 
unions  become  more  fixed  in  their  ideals,  there  must  be 
a growing  desire  to  free  themselves  from  any  attach- 
ment to  the  saloon. 

There  is  one  other  social  organization  which  exists 
among  the  people,  and  supplies  the  wide  fellowship 
which  is  inherent  in  club  life.  The  lodge,  the  secret 


64 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


orders,  the  fraternal  and  beneficiary  societies  which 
exist  in  such  large  numbers  all  over  the  country,  have 
a place  in  the  social  life  of  the  people  which  we  must 
endeavor  to  estimated 

The  number  of  these  societies  at  jjresent  existing  in 
the  United  States  is  about  six  hundred.  The  present 
membership,  including  Canada,  exceeds  five  millions  or 
approximately  one  fifteenth  of  the  entire  population. 
The  financial  operations  of  all  these  societies  involve 
millions  of  dollars  annually,  and  the  obligations  as- 
sumed by  them  hundreds  of  millions. 

It  is  surprising  to  note  how  rapid  has  been  the  de- 
velopment of  these  societies  in  recent  years.  Of  about 
575  societies  whose  date  of  oi’ganization  could  be  ascer- 
tained, only  fourteen  per  cent  were  founded  before 
1880 ; twenty-two  jser  cent  between  1880  and  1890  ; 
twenty-three  per  cent  between  1890  and  1895 ; and 
forty-one  per  cent  between  1895  and  1900.  It  will  be 
seen  that  eighty-six  per  cent  are  only  twenty  years 
old  ; nearly  one  fourth  are  between  five  and  ten  years 
old  ; and  more  than  forty  per  cent  are  five  years  old 
or  less.  The  aggi’egate  membership  of  these  societies 
has  doubled  within  the  last  ten  years,  and  increased 
approximately  twenty-five  per  cent  within  the  last  five. 
Of  the  hundreds  of  societies  existing  in  this  country 
to-day,  only  three  claim  a very  early  origin : two  were 
formed  early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  half  a dozen 
less  significant  societies  were  organized  before  the  Civil 

O o 

1 A report  on  fraternal  societies  was  prepared  for  the  editors  by  Pro- 
fessor B.  H.  Meyer  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  Portions  of  this 
report  relating  especially  to  the  protective  and  legislative  features  of 
these  societies  may  be  found  in  the  annals  of  the  American  Academy 
of  Political  and  Social  Science,  1901. 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


65 


War,  and  all  the  others  have  been  organized  since 
1868.  It  is  largely  a very  recent  development  with 
which  we  have  to  do.  Nothing  better  illustrates  the 
growing  demand  for  fellowship  in  our  day. 

Two  main  causes  will  account  for  this  social  develop- 
ment : one  is  the  demand  for  fraternity,  the  club  spirit, 
which  is  the  spirit  of  our  age ; the  other  is  the  desire 
for  insurance,  for  the  pecuniary  benefits  which  all 
these  organizations  offer.  The  fraternal  and  the  com- 
mercial ideas  combine  in  giving  these  organizations 
their  great  hold  upon  men  of  all  grades  and  callings. 
Add  to  this  the  ritual  and  the  secrecy  of  the  orders, 
their  democracy  and  their  philanthropy,  and  it  is  not 
difficult  to  understand  their  rapid  growth. 

Their  social  value  depends  ultimately  upon  the  com- 
parative estimate  which  is  put  by  them  upon  the  fra- 
ternal or  the  commercial  idea.  Here  it  is  impossible 
to  give  any  statistics  or  specific  statements.  But  this 
may  be  said,  that  the  oldest  and  largest  of  these  socie- 
ties exalt  the  fraternal  side  of  lodge  life,  and  adminis- 
ter relief  in  the  fraternal  spirit ; but  that  by  far  the 
larger  number  of  the  more  recent  societies  are  domi- 
nated by  the  commercial  idea,  and  minimize  the  social 
opportunities  which  such  an  organization  presents.  It 
is  true  of  all  the  fraternal  and  beneficiary  orders  of 
America  to-day  that  they  are  at  the  parting  of  the 
ways.  One  or  the  other  of  these  ideas  is  to  get  the  upper 
hand.  Either  the  orders  will  become  largely  insurance 
societies,  or  thej^  will  become  real  social  organizations 
with  benefit  features.  Needless  to  say  the  latter  ideal 
is  the  nobler,  and  towards  its  realization  all  who  have 
at  heart  the  interests  of  these  societies  should  labor. 


66 


SUBSTITUTES  FOB  THE  SALOON. 


The  great  majority  of  these  orders  have,  of  course, 
some  social  features  in  connection  with  their  meetings. 
Initiations  and  the  granting  of  degrees  absorb  some 
attention.  On  these  occasions  ritualistic  exercises  are 
generally  performed.  Organizations  in  which  insur- 
ance plays  an  important  part  devote  time  to  the  exam- 
ination of  death  proofs  and  the  payment  of  claims. 
Debates  on  the  policy  of  the  lodge  and  conferring  of 
benefits  occupy  some  time.  In  addition,  musical  and 
literary  programmes  are  often  provided  with  readings, 
essays,  debates,  and  the  like.  But  the  most  important 
part  of  the  social  life  is  doubtless  the  intimate  fellow- 
ship of  the  members.  When  we  consider  that  the 
largest  and  best  of  these  societies  at  least  are  recruited 
from  all  classes,  the  worth  of  such  a social  order  is 
evident.  It  is  this  spirit  of  brotherhood  wdiich  is  the 
particular  boast  of  all  these  orders.  It  is  upon  this 
that  they  lay  peculiar  emphasis  in  estimating  the  social 
value  of  the  organization.  , 

An  important  part  of  the  social  life  of  some  lodges 
is  the  influence  of  women  members.  Less  than  ten 
societies  are  composed  exclusively  of  w'omen,  and  of 
these  several  are  auxiliary  to  men’s  societies.  Prob- 
ably not  more  than  fifty  societies  admit  both  men 
and  women.  But  where  the  women  are  present,  it  is 
unquestionable  that  their  membershi]}  is  an  extremely 
important  and  beneficent  feature  of  lodge  life.  Occa- 
sions are  all  too  few  in  the  life  of  the  wage-earner 
where  men  and  women  are  brought  together  in  a social 
way. 

But  when  all  has  been  said,  the  fact  remains  that 
the  amount  of  continuous  social  life  which  even  the 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


67 


most  fraternal  of  these  societies  actually  offers  its 
members  is  limited,  and  altogether  out  of  projjortion 
to  its  opportunities.  Lodge  meetings  do  not  occur 
more  than  once  or  twice  a month.  Even  if  every 
meeting  were  attended  by  every  member,  the  demand 
made  upon  the  time  of  the  individual  by  the  lodge  is 
not  large  enough,  and  the  opportunities  given  the 
member  for  the  satisfaction  of  his  social  needs  are  not 
adequate  to  insure  his  remaining  away  from  the  saloon. 
Lodge-rooms  are  deserted  except  at  the  stated  hours 
of  meeting,  and  then  only  a small  proportion  of  mem- 
bers are  in  attendance.  There  appears  to  be  no  good 
reason  why  lodge-rooms  should  not  be  used  as  club- 
rooms  and  remain  open,  as  all  other  social  club-rooms 
are  open,  every  day  and  night  in  the  week.  At  pre- 
sent fraternal  societies  cannot  seriously  be  regarded  as 
a substitute  for  the  saloon  except  during  the  few  hours 
of  social  meeting.  But  if  the  rooms  were  always  open 
they  would  act  as  such  continually  throughout  the 
hours  of  any  day. 

If  it  is  impossible  to  ascribe  a large  direct  work  of 
substitution  to  the  fraternal  societies  as  at  present  con- 
ducted, it  is  equally  impossible  to  speak  unequivocally 
of  their  relation  to  the  saloon  and  to  the  liquor  busi- 
ness. Yet  it  may  be  said  of  them  that  their  position 
is  beyond  what  we  might  reasonably  expect  of  so  large 
a body  of  men  in  our  present  state  of  ethical  develop- 
ment in  relation  to  the  liquor  problem.  Several  fra- 
ternities, like  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  are  first  of 
all  temperance  societies.  All  or  nearly  all  of  the 
societies  refuse  to  admit  to  membership  any  who  are 
engaged  in  the  sale  and  traffic  of  intoxicating  liquors. 


68 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


This  in  itself  is  an  important  measure,  not  that  it  in- 
sures sobriety  on  the  part  of  the  members,  but  because 
it  places  a stigma  upon  the  liquor  traffic,  and  expresses 
a moral  disapproval  of  it.  But  further  than  this,  no 
one  who  drinks  to  excess  is  admitted  to  membership. 
It  is  observable  that  the  insurance  and  benefit  features 
of  these  societies  have  a bearing  here.  If  the  benefi- 
ciary work  is  on  the  life-insurance  plan,  an  habitual 
drinker  becomes  a hazardous  risk ; if  it  is  on  the  fra- 
ternal plan,  his  needs  demand  more  than  his  share  of 
the  funds.  In  these  ways,  then,  the  fraternal  and 
beneficiary  societies  discourage  and  condemn  the  traffic 
and  the  consumption  of  liquors. 

The  public  practices  of  some  of  these  orders  arouse  the 
suspicion  that  their  moral  standards  are  none  too  high. 
Periodical  picnics  and  excursions  take  place,  and  these 
are  not  always  free  from  excesses ; nor  does  the  disci- 
pline of  the  lodge  seem  strong  and  severe  enough  to 
prevent  their  recurrence  on  similar  occasions  in  the 
future.  The  bringing  together  of  large  numbers  of 
men  under  the  auspices  of  the  order,  removing  them 
from  the  restraining  influences  of  home  associations, 
doubtless  has  its  unfortunate  results. 

In  regard  to  the  location  of  the  lodge-rooms  much 
the  same  report  must  be  made  as  in  the  case  of  the 
trade  unions.  Investigation  shows  that  in  almost  any 
large  city,  “ the  lodge-room  is  located  in  a building, 
the  ground  floor  or  basement  of  which  is  occupied  by 
a saloon ; and  when  there  is  an  exception,  you  will 
find  a saloon  in  its  immediate  neighborhood.  It  will 
be  found,  too,  that  the  saloon-keeper  looks  for  his  cus- 
tom to  these  lodge  members  ; the  saloon  becomes  most 


THE  CLUBS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


69 


profitable  where  there  is  the  greatest  travel  and  the 
largest  number  of  people  congregate ; and  whatever 
may  be  the  influence  of  these  organizations  on  the 
saloon  problem,  it  is  a fact  easily  demonstrated  that 
the  lodge-room  and  the  saloon  are  near  neighbors. 

“ But  in  modern  life  the  best  of  men  cannot  always 
designate  who  their  neighbors  shall  be ; and  the  close 
connection  between  the  lodge-room  and  the  saloon 
seems  to  be  a coincidence,  at  least  in  many  instances, 
rather  than  cause  and  effect.  In  smaller  towns  the 
choice  of  lodge-rooms  is  usually  greatly  restricted,  and 
it  sometimes  happens  that  the  hall  above  a saloon  is 
the  only  one  available.  Instances  have  also  been  re- 
corded where  saloon-keepers  have  set  up  their  places 
of  business  after  the  lodge  had  been  established.  But 
after  all,  the  habits  of  the  members  of  a lodge  are 
much  more  important  than  externals,  and  a conscious 
effort  is  often  made  on  the  part  of  the  officers  of  a 
lodge  to  secure  rooms  away  from  the  saloons.” 

The  fraternal  system  stands  for  self-control  and 
voluntary  restraint  on  the  part  of  the  individual, 
rather  than  for  prohibition.  It  recognizes  differences 
among  men ; it  exercises  authority  over  the  weak ; it 
encourages  mutual  helpfulness,  and  that  kindly  per- 
sonal assistance  which  transforms  men.  On  the  whole, 
our  judgment  of  fraternal  and  beneficiary  societies 
ought  to  be  favorable  and  apijreciative.  It  could  be 
wished,  however,  that  its  leaders  would  seek  a still 
further  divorce  between  its  meeting-places  and  the 
saloon,  and  that  they  would  seek  to  develop  its  social 
features,  and  to  make  the  lodge-rooms  places  of  daily 
resort,  instead  of  occasional  meetings. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 

The  club  life  of  the  people  evidently  does  not  lack 
reality.  The  worst  thing  that  can  be  said  about  a club, 
that  it  fails  to  attract  or  to  interest,  cannot  be  said  of 
these  clubs  as  a rule,  for  they  do  both.  They  are  full 
of  life  and  vigor,  since  they  represent  the  actual  interests 
of  the  different  classes  whose  social  instincts  they  help 
to  satisfy.  But  the  defects  of  the  clubs  which  have 
been  described  are  apparent ; for  taking  them  just  as 
they  are,  it  must,  in  all  truth,  be  said  that  they  afford 
very  little  wholesome  opportunity  for  recreation.  The 
trouble  lies  here.  Where  the  social  life  predominates, 
the  club  is  most  open  to  temptations  which  threaten  its 
usefulness  if  not  its  existence ; and  where  the  standards 
are  highest,  and  the  aim  most  serious,  there  the  social 
element  begins  to  disappear.  The  most  serious  of  these 
clubs  need  more  recreative  features ; the  most  social  of 
them  need  a greater  moral  ballast ; and  all  of  them  to- 
gether, without  exception,  need  to  be  made  independent 
of  the  saloon  and  its  keeper,  in  oi’der  to  lead  a life  of 
their  own  which  shall  both  amuse  and  uplift.  When 
the  laboring  man  can  step  out  of  his  home  and  go  natu- 
rally, not  to  a saloon,  but  to  a club  which  furnishes  real 
comfort  and  some  decent  recreation  without  any  depend- 
ence upon  the  saloon,  then  a long  stride  will  have  been 
taken  in  solving  the  problem  of  the  people’s  leisure. 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


71 


An  objection  must  be  spoken  of  here  which  will 
occur  to  one  more  than  once  in  the  course  of  this  dis- 
cussion. It  will  seem  as  if  too  little  account  had  been 
taken  of  the  home,  the  rightful  centre  of  all  legitimate 
recreation  and  amusements  ; that  the  multiplication  of 
clubs  and  reading-rooms  had  been  recommended  with- 
out apparent  recognition  of  the  danger  that  by  these 
means  the  dignity  of  the  home  life  will  be  threatened, 
if  not  destroyed ; that  the  place  of  woman  in  the  social 
economy,  and  her  necessity  for  freedom  and  relaxation, 
had  been  ignored.  As  for  the  last  objection,  atten- 
tion must  be  called  to  the  limitations  of  the  subject. 
Women,  as  a rule,  are  not  saloon  patrons,  and  there- 
fore have  less  need  than  the  men  of  substitutes.  Be- 
sides, it  has  been  assumed  that  most  of  the  agencies 
mentioned  are  for  women’s  use  as  well  as  men’s,  and 
the  importance  of  a social  life  in  which  both  men 
and  women  have  a part  has  been  fully  recognized. 
As  for  the  home,  nothing  is  more  necessary  than  that 
it  should  become  the  chief  centre  of  recreation  after 
the  day’s  work.  The  necessity  for  amusement  and 
some  outside  excitement,  however,  still  remains.  And 
the  conditions  under  which  thousands  of  our  city  toilers 
live  make  the  “ home  ” little  more  than  the  space  neces- 
sary for  eating  and  sleeping,  to  say  nothing  of  comfort, 
and  still  less  of  social  enjoyments.  Some  day  things 
may  be  different.  Even  then,  the  spirit  of  the  age 
will  make  itself  felt  upon  the  poor  as  well  as  upon 
the  rich.  If  these  demand  their  clubs,  so  will  those, 
and  they  will  find  them  in  the  saloon  if  better  places 
are  not  provided. 

One  method  of  supplying  the  need  for  wholesome 


72 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


club  life  within  the  reach  of  the  ordinary  saloon  patron 
is  to  develop  clubs  from  among  those  already  exist- 
ing with  the  idea  that  they  become  self-supporting  and 
be  controlled  by  the  people  themselves.  In  forming 
these  clubs  two  conditions  must  be  met.  In  the  first 
l^lace  the  clubs  must  be  given  at  least  a decent  place  in 
which  to  meet,  which  has  no  attachment  to  or  depend- 
ence upon  a saloon,  and  in  the  next  place  there  must 
be  some  esprit  de  corps,  or  sense  of  union,  which  will 
supply  the  individual  clubs  with  the  impulse  for  a 
higher  tone  of  club  life. 

The  difficulty  of  securing  any  club-rooms  apart  from 
the  saloon  has  already  been  mentioned.  The  hostility 
of  the  saloon-keeper  is  sure  to  be  aroused  if  the  club 
thinks  of  going  elsewhere,  and  boarding-houses  and 
hotels  will  not  harbor  them.  The  alternative  of  the 
saloon-room  is  usually  a very  dismal  place,  lacking  all 
the  conveniences  which  the  other  jsossesses.  The  dues 
of  these  clubs  rarely  exceed  twenty-five  cents  a week, 
and  ten  cents  is  the  common  fee.  Two  good  rooms 
could  not  be  rented  for  less  than  twenty-five  to  forty 
dollars  a month,  and  the  rental  would  represent  but 
half  of  the  necessary  outlay.  No  wonder,  then,  that 
the  saloon-rooms  are  eagerly  sought. 

But  how  shall  good  accommodations  be  provided  if 
the  clubs  cannot  afford  to  pay  for  them  ? Evidently 
they  must  come  from  some  source  where  a profit  is  not 
expected.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  the  muni- 
cipality should  not  seriously  consider  the  propriety  of 
erecting  in  different  sections  of  the  city  large  plain 
buildings,  which  should  serve  solely  as  clubhouses  for 
the  different  organizations  in  the  district  that  should 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


73 


desire  to  meet  there.  In  the  end  this  would  prove 
to  be  a real  economy.  The  rental  could  be  put  high 
enough  to  cover  the  running  expenses  and  the  interest 
on  the  capital  invested,  and  still  be  within  the  reach  of  a 
hundred  organizations,  to  which  it  would  be  a welcome 
refuge.  Such  a building,  if  it  existed  in  almost  any 
part  of  one  of  our  large  cities  to-day,  would  be  filled 
in  a week.  Clubs  would  come  from  alleys,  back 
streets,  tenements,  and  saloons.  Transferred  into  well- 
lighted  and  well-ventilated  rooms,  the  whole  tone  of 
their  life  could  not  fail  to  be  improved.  Equip  this 
building  with  a gymnasium  in  the  basement,  and  a 
roof  garden,  and  it  would  become  at  once  a powerful 
substitute  for  the  saloon.  The  bringing  together  in 
the  same  place  of  so  many  different  sets  of  men  would 
en(?ourage  a kind  of  social  life  very  different  from  the 
narrow  sort  of  fellowship  which  is  all  that  many  of 
them  know  at  present.  Such  a building  would  take 
its  name,  not  from  any  one  club,  but  from  the  district. 
It  would  be  known  as  “The  North  End  Club  House,” 
“ The  Seventeenth  Assembly  District  Club  House,” 
“The  Tenth  Ward  Club  House,”  etc.,  and  in  it  all 
manner  of  clubs  would  find  suitable  lodging.  The 
housing  of  clubs  is  thus  a proper  field  for  municipal 
activity.  The  duty  of  the  municiijality  is  to  pi’ovide 
for  the  safety  and  comfort  of  its  inhabitants.  A 
wholesome  satisfaction  of  the  social  instinct,  under 
right  and  safe  conditions,  is  certainly  within  such  a 
definition  of  its  functions. 

A beginning  in  this  direction  has  already  been  made. 
In  New  York  City,  by  the  sanction  of  the  Department 
of  Education,  school  buildings  have  been  thrown  open 


74 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


to  clubs  for  boys  and  girls.  The  idea  is  taking  hold 
that  the  school  should  be, the  natural  social  centre, 
where  the  whole  life  of  the  child,  and  not  a detached 
portion  of  it,  should  receive  expression.  This  experi- 
ment in  New  York  originated  in  the  League  for  Polit- 
ical Education,  which  recognized  the  excellent  results 
which  followed  from  centring  the  club  life  in  settle- 
ments and  parish  houses,  whereby  the  social  activities 
of  young  boys  were  enlarged,  and  the  dangers  of  street 
life  lessened.  The  league  saw  that  if  this  club  life 
could  be  extended  so  as  to  use  the  numerous  large 
school  buildings  in  the  thickly  crowded  portions  of 
the  city,  the  field  of  influence  would  be  indefinitely 
enlarged.  There  were  plenty  of  young  men  to  take 
the  leadership  in  such  clubs,  — yoimg  men  who  had  had 
the  advantage  of  growing  up  in  settlement  clubs,  who 
were  amply  capable,  under  wise  direction,  of  doing 
good  work.  But,  of  course,  there  were  other  expenses, 
and  beyond  all  this  the  need  of  convincing  the  School 
Department  that  this  throwing  open  of  the  doors  of 
the  schoolhouses  in  the  evening  would  result  in  much 
good  and  no  harm.  Finally  these  difficulties  were 
overcome,  and  several  clubs  were  started  in  the  school 
on  Chrystie  Street,  between  Delancey  and  Eivington 
streets.  The  clubs  met  weekly.  They  had  business 
meetings,  addresses  or  readings,  and  an  exercise  hour. 
At  present  the  school  buildings  of  New  York  are  pro- 
vided with  indoor  playgrounds,  and  are  the  centres 
for  a o'ood  deal  of  recreation  for  the  children  of  the 

O 

neighborhood.  The  drift  of  public  opinion  seems  to 
be  in  favor  of  utilizing  the  school  buildings  for  all 
reasonable  purposes.  But  this  is  not  enough.  Build- 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


75 


ings  are  needed  to  be  used  solely  for  social  purposes. 
Until  they  are  provided  the  social  life  of  thousands  of 
the  wage-eai’iiers  in  our  great  cities  must  continue  in 
the  control  of  the  liquor  dealers. 

The  second  need  in  the  planting  of  these  clubs  is  for 
some  sense  of  union,  some  bond  that  shall  unite  the 
separate  clubs  into  a higher  unity,  some  association  or 
guild  into  which  they  may  be  brought  so  that  the  spirit 
of  corporate  life  may  pervade  them  all  and  the  stan- 
dard of  the  different  clubs  be  gradually  raised.  This 
idea  has  been  successfully  applied,  as  is  well  known,  to 
boys’  clubs.  The  importance  of  providing  good  clubs 
and  other  means  of  recreation  for  boys  and  girls  has 
been  appreciated  of  late  years,  and  no  branch  of  social 
reform  has  received  more  attention.  The  hope  of 
better  future  conditions,  it  has  been  felt,  centres  in  the 
child.  The  immediate  necessity,  then,  is  to  get  hold  of 
the  child,  and  in  early  years  create  such  interests  and 
ideals  that  the  future  man  and  woman  cannot  be  drawn 
into  the  lower  life  of  which  the  saloon  is  often  the 
exponent.  The  ideal  club  for  boys  and  girls  has  not 
yet  been  evolved,  and  there  are  many  divergent  views. 
This  much  at  least  can  be  said  with  some  confidence: 
the  ultimate  purpose  of  such  clubs,  whatever  their  ap- 
parent object,  must  be  to  train  their  members  by  expe- 
rience to  put  personal  character  above  immediate  gain, 
and  to  live  in  right  relations  with  their  fellows.  For- 
mal instruction  will  not  dominate  the  recreative  and 
social  features  of  the  club,  and  the  spirit  of  cobpei’ation 
and  the  sense  of  responsibility  will  be  fostered  by 
every  available  means.  It  is  here  that  the  guild  idea 
comes  into  play  and  solves  at  the  same  time  another 


76 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


problem,  that  of  numbers.  The  method  of  conducting 
boys’  clubs  at  present  most  approved,  is  to  combine 
the  original  idea  of  having  a single  large  club,  with  the 
small  group  club,  later  developed  by  the  settlements. 
These  different  groups  are  now  united  in  some  sort  of 
guild,  or  federation,  so  that  the  humane,  personal 
touch  is  not  lost,  and  at  the  same  time  the  enthusiasm 
of  larger  numbers  is  retained.^  The  Columbia  Park 
Boys’  Association  of  San  Francisco  is  an  admirable 
federation  of  clubs,  all  under  one  competent  manage- 
ment. 

The  same  plan  may  be  followed  with  the  young  men’s 
social  clubs.  It  is  true  that  these  young  men’s  clubs 
are  not  so  easy  to  reach  or  to  influence  as  the  boys’ 
clubs.  The  feeling  of  independence,  the  suspicion  of 
interference,  the  dislike  of  even  the  suggestion  of  moral 
improvement  increases  with  age.  It  is  always  easier 
to  reach  the  child  than  the  young  man,  but  it  is  still 
true  that  these  young  men’s  clubs  will  yield  in  the  end 
to  influence  of  the  right  kind,  and  present  a splendid 
if  difficult  field  for  social  service.  All  that  is  needed 
is,  as  always,  the  man  or  woman  who  clearly  sees  the 
need  and  determines  to  meet  it.  What  is  proposed  is 
nothing  else  than  the  same  kind  of  an  organization  or 
affiliation  among  the  young  men’s  social  clubs  as  settle- 
ment workers  have  already  accomplished  with  success 
among  the  boys’  clubs.  Let  these  clubs  be  taken  just 
as  they  are,  and  gradually  be  brought  together  in  some 
sort  of  guild  or  association,  the  ultimate  object  of  which 
is  to  raise  the  tone  of  club  life  and  provide  wholesome 

1 The  reader  is  referred  to  the  article  on  ‘‘  Boys’  Clubs,”  in  the 
Appendix,  by  Mr.  William  A.  Clarke  of  Lincoln  House,  Boston. 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


77 


kinds  of  recreation.  The  beginning  would  be  made 
with  one  club,  in  the  hope  that  others  would  be  glad  to 
join.  The  elubs  would  come  in  gradually,  as  the  boys’ 
clubs  did  when  the  idea  was  first  started  in  the  East 
Side  of  New  York.  Mr.  E,iis  has  told  how  one  of  the 
clubs  held  aloof  after  the  others  had  come  in,  observing 
coldly  what  went  on  to  make  sure  it  was  “ straight,” 
until  one  day  there  came  a delegate  with  the  proposi- 
tion, “ If  you  will  let  us  in,  we  will  change  and  have 
your  kind  of  a gang.”  ^ It  is  only  as  the  clubs  of 
young  men  make  sure  that  the  thing  is  “ straight  ” 
that  they  will  change  and  have  the  new  kind  of  club. 
When  Harry  F.  Ward  became  head-worker  at  the 
Northwestern  Settlement  in  Chicago,  he  found  in  the 
community  a club  of  young  men  calling  themselves 
“ The  Keybosh  Club.”  They  met  in  saloons,  played 
billiards,  and  told  stories.^  Mr.  Ward  became  inter- 
ested, and  the  settlement  furnished  a room  in  an  ad- 
joining store  with  a combination  billiard  and  pool  table, 
and  here  the  Keybosh,  now  the  Kingsley  Club  meets. 
They  were  glad  of  the  opportunity.  Regular  business 
meetings  are  held,  and  men  of  standing  invited  to  dis- 
cuss before  them  various  sociological  problems  and 
topics  of  current  interest.  As  one  of  their  members 
said  : “ We  used  to  do  nothing  but  crack  jokes,  and 
plan  how  to  have  a good  time.  Now  we  have  something 
serious  to  talk  about.”  It  gave  them  a new  view  of 
life.  They  plan  their  picnics  with  Mr.  Ward’s  advice, 
and  the  whole  character  of  the  club  is  greatly  changed. 

What  has  been  accomplished  with  one  club  may  be 

^ See  A Ten  Years’  War,  pp.  162,  163. 

^ From  the  Chicago  report. 


78 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


done  with  many,  and  these  clubs  may  thus  become  the 
affiliated  members  of  a general  body  or  guild  of  which 
the  control  will  be  largely  in  their  own  hands.  An 
illustration  of  such  a possible  federation  of  clubs  is 
presented  by  the  guild  connected  with  the  University 
Settlement  in  New  York.  These  clubs  are  seven  in 
number  besides  the  children’s  clubs,  whose  members 
are  under  fourteen  years  of  age.  Of  these  seven  clubs, 
one  is  for  women,  three  are  for  girls  and  young  women, 
two  are  for  young  men,  and  one  for  the  older  men. 
Each  of  these  clubs  chooses  two  of  its  members  to  re- 
present it  upon  the  guild  committee,  which  has  authority 
over  the  social  life  of  the  different  guild  clubs  and 
their  relations  with  one  another.^  In  this  connection 
it  conducts,  through  its  committees,  the  dancing  acad- 
emy, occasional  concerts  and  lectures,  and  recommends 
at  times  to  the  head-worker  the  organization  of  certain 
classes.  The  guild  gives  the  clubs  a sense  of  control 
and  of  fellowship  both  with  each  other  and  with  the 
resident  w'orkers,  but  most  essential  of  all  is  the  sense 
of  mutual  cooperation  and  mutual  aid  which  has  come 
from  these  associations.  From  the  start  there  is  the 
idea  that  each  one  has  something  to  contribute  to  their 
mutual  well-being,  and  that  it  is  only  necessary  to 
find  in  what  way  this  contribution  should  be  made. 
Another  good  effect  of  the  association  is  the  continuity 
of  the  hold  it  exerts  upon  the  different  clubs.  As  we 
have  seen,  the  life  of  these  clubs  of  the  young  people 
is  a very  precarious  one  ; but  so  soon  as  the  corporate 
idea  becomes  developed,  the  hold  upon  the  individual 
clubs  becomes  strengthened  at  once.  One  difficulty, 

1 From  the  New  York  report. 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


79 


it  has  been  found,  must  be  guarded  against.  If 
the  powers  delegated  to  the  guild  committee  are  made 
absolute,  it  may  be  found  difficult  to  increase  the  num- 
ber of  clubs  when  such  an  increase  would  seem  most 
desirable.  The  spirit  of  exclusiveness  is  liable  to 
make  itself  felt.  At  any  time  clubs  which  do  not  seem 
to  be  in  favor  might  be  barred  out  by  the  guild  com- 
mittee when  their  admission  would  mean  their  social 
salvation. 

Here,  then,  we  have  in  practical  working  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  kind  of  organization  which  might  be 
employed  to  unite  the  young  men’s  clubs  of  the  neigh- 
borhood.^ Such  a work  among  the  young  men’s  clubs 
of  any  city  would  have  to  be  pursued  with  much  deli- 
cacy, and  results  would  show  themselves  only  gradually. 
But  imagine  a score  or  more  of  these  clubs,  all  of  them 
composed  of  young  men  between  the  ages  of  seventeen 
and  twenty -five,  united  in  some  such  federation  under 
the  capable  leadership  of  one  who  had  their  confidence 
and  understood  thoroughly  their  needs.  The  good 
that  would  result  would  be  incalculable.  Without  at- 
tempting any  striking  innovations,  a new  tone  could  be 
given  to  the  life  of  these  clubs.  Libraries  could  be 
placed  in  many  of  them,  talks  upon  current  topics  of 
importance  be  provided,  excursions  to  places  of  historic 
interest  be  planned,  and  other  similar  methods  be  em- 
ployed. Instead  of  being  left  to  themselves,  to  the 
ixnequal  conflict  with  their  surroundings,  they  would  be 
helped  to  greater  self-respect.  The  very  best  way  to 
provide  for  the  social  life  of  the  people  is  not  to  plant 
new  clubs,  but  to  remake  those  which  already  exist. 

^ Such  also  is  the  Hebrew  Benevolent  Association  of  New  York. 


80 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


A new  club  has  always  to  overcome  a certain  inertia ; 
it  ai’ouses  suspicion,  and  is  often  at  the  mercy  of  a 
clique  which  seeks  to  secure  control  only  to  break 
up  the  club.  Where  the  beginning  is  made  with 
clubs  already  existing,  and  the  control  is  left  largely 
in  their  own  hands,  these  dangers  are  reduced  to  a 
minimum. 

These  suggestions  have  related  especially  to  the 
young  men.  Among  married  laboring  men  there 
exist  few  purely  social  clubs.  Why  these  should  not 
be  found  amono;  the  older  laboring’  men  in  America 
as  they  are  found  in  such  nixmbers  in  England,  it  is 
hard  to  say,  but  such  is  the  fact.  The  underlying 
purpose  of  a club  among  the  workingmen  of  America 
will  have  its  relation  to  politics,  to  the  trades,  or  to 
insurance  benefits.  The  most  careful  search  has  failed 
to  reveal  in  any  of  our  American  cities  native  clubs 
among  the  older  men  of  which  the  primary  idea  is 
recreation  and  fellowship.  This  fact  merits  the  most 
careful  attention.  To  it  may  doubtless  be  traced  a 
good  number  of  those  evils  of  whose  existence  we  have 
been  aware  without  understanding  the  cause.  Social 
clubs  among  wage-earners  are  a positive  necessity,  es- 
pecially in  our  intense  American  life.  They  serve  as  a 
centre  in  which  the  pent-up  social  energy  can  find  nor- 
mal expression.  Their  absence  means  that  this  energy 
will  find  expression  in  other  ways.  It  is  not  fanciful 
at  all  to  suppose  that  the  unaccountable  vagaries  of 
trade  unions  and  the  disappointing  success  of  ques- 
tionable political  • clubs  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that 
matters  of  serious  concern  come  up  for  settlement 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


81 


when  neither  body  nor  mind  is  in  a fit  state  to  deal 
with  them.  When  a man  comes  tired  and  overwrought 
from  his  work,  he  needs  recreation  above  everything. 
He  ought  to  have  a home  where  he  can  find  it,  and 
he  ought  to  have  clubs  where  the  pressing  problems 
of  daily  existence  will  not  intrude.  The  remarkable 
absence  of  such  social  clubs  for  the  wage-earners  of 
America  is  a problem  which  needs  to  be  faced  in  every 
city  of  the  country. 

This  need  has  been  felt,  and  some  effort  has  been 
made  by  those  interested  in  working  men  and  women 
to  provide  clubs  for  them.  The  People’s  Institute  of 
New  York  has  made  a beginning  with  its  People’s 
Clubs,  one  of  which  is  now  in  a flourishing  condition. 
The  plan  contemplates  a number  of  clubs  in  different 
parts  of  the  city.  Men  and  women  both  may  become 
members.  The  club-rooms  are  always  open,  and  occa- 
sionally receptions  are  given,  and  lectures  and  other 
entertainments  provided.  The  Social  Reform  Club 
of  New  York  is  another  interesting  attempt  to  draw 
together  thinking  men  and  women  from  all  walks  of 
life,  and  to  unite  them  in  some  helpful  association. 
San  Francisco  presents  a similar  institution,  more 
nearly  approaching  the  ideal  of  a workingman’s  club, 
in  her  Labor  Union  Association.  There  is  no  line 
drawn  here  between  union  and  non  - union  men, 
although  the  former  pi’edominate.  The  main  purpose 
is  to  provide  a common  meeting-place,  where  the  mem- 
bers may  spend  a social  evening,  and  where  they  may 
debate  social  and  economic  questions.  A speaker  is 
often  provided,  and  free  discussion  follows.  Freedom 
of  speech  is  the  chief  article  of  the  constitution,  and 


82 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


speakers  must  be  prepared  for  the  “ roasting  ” to 
wliicb  they  are  often  treated.  The  rooms  are  always 
open,  they  are  comfortably  furnished,  and  provided  with 
newspapers  and  some  kind  of  a library.  Occasional 
evenings  are  provided  with  smoke  talks  and  entertain- 
ments or  a reception.  All  of  these  clubs  merit  words 
of  praise.  They  are  educational,  helpful,  and  not  their 
least  important  service  is  to  do  away  with  class  dis- 
tinctions, and  to  develop  a true  social  democracy. 

But  yet  these  clubs  do  not  touch  the  real  problem 
of  the  social  life  of  the  toilers  in  our  great  cities. 
What  we  are  waiting  for  to-day  is  not  so  much  the 
establishment  here  and  there  of  a semi-social,  semi- 
educational  club  among  working  men  and  women,  as 
the  inauguration  of  a movement  which  contemplates 
planting  a score  of  clubs  in  every  city,  the  sole  object 
of  which  is  to  provide  for  the  recreation  of  their  mem- 
bers. 

The  question  arises.  How  can  such  people’s  clubs  be 
provided  ? The  first  and  most  natural  way  that  sug- 
gests itself  is  that  the  trade  unions  themselves  make 
more  provision  for  the  social  enjoj^ment  of  their  mem- 
bers. But  the  trade  unions,  even  under  the  most 
favorable  conditions,  can  never  become  the  ideal  social 
clubs.  As  Canon  Barnett  has  said : “ Clubs  in  which 
workingmen  associate  with  none  but  workingmen,  in 
which  interests  are  all  the  same,  in  which  education 
and  experience  are  confined  within  comparative  narrow 
limits,  must  be  in  a large  sense  anti-social.  Class 
clubs  hardly  consider  the  needs  of  others  or  respect 
the  whole  of  society  of  which  they  are  parts.” 

In  the  absence,  then,  of  any  clubs  with  which  to  make 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


83 


a beginning,  new  social  workingmen’s  clubs  must  be 
formed  that  will  unite  men  of  all  trades  and  creeds 
and  classes  for  the  primary  purpose  of  social  reci’ea- 
tion.  In  America  we  have  no  precedent  for  such 
clubs,  but  England  furnishes  us  an  interesting  move- 
ment of  this  kind  which  has  passed  the  stage  of  experi- 
ment, and  has  become  a settled  institution  among  the 
wage-earners  of  that  country. 

The  success  of  the  workingmen’s  club  movement  in 
England  has  been  very  conspicuous.  Its  history  now 
runs  over  thirty  years.  In  1863  an  organization  was 
formed  known  as  The  Working  Men’s  Club  and  Insti- 
tute Union.^  Its  purpose  was  to  hel}}  workingmen  to 
establish  clubs  or  institutions  where  they  might  meet 
for  conversation,  business,  and  mental  improvement, 
with  the  means  of  recreation  and  refreshment  free 
from  the  temptations  of  the  public  house.  At  the 
beginning  a paid  secretary  was  hired  who  had  for  his 
duty  the  formation  of  such  clubs,  which  were  received 
into  the  institute  upon  payment  of  a registration  fee 
of  two  shillings  and  sixpence.  The  first  year  twenty- 
two  such  clubs  were  formed.  In  ten  years  the  number 
of  affiliated  clubs  had  been  increased  to  over  245,  and 
in  twenty  years  to  500  clubs,  having  about  75,000 
members.  This  total  does  not  include  many  other 
clubs  which  the  society  had  been  instrumental  in  form- 
ing, but  which  were  not  connected  with  it.  The  con- 
trol of  these  clubs  was  vested  in  a central  council, 
originally  composed  of  people  who  were  interested  in 
the  movement  and  had  contributed  to  its  support,  but 

1 Club  Land  of  the  Toiler,  by  T.  S.  Peppin,  B.  A.  J.  M.  Dent  & Co., 
London.  ^ 


84 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


were  not  themselves  members  of  the  clubs.  It  was 
not  until  ten  years  had  passed  that  representative 
control  was  thought  of.  In  that  year  five  dele- 
gates, elected  by  the  affiliated  clubs  themselves,  were 
admitted  to  seats  in  the  council.  In  1882  this  number 
was  increased  to  nine,  but  in  1884  a complete  change 
was  accomplished.  At  that  time  the  institute  became 
a legally  constituted  corporate  body.  Its  management 
was  now  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  clubs  which 
belonged  to  it,  the  number  of  outsiders  being  very 
small.  The  good  effects  of  this  change  towards  a 
more  democratic  management  were  seen  at  once.  For 
one  thing,  many  clubs  became  self-supporting.  Before 
the  change  in  the  management  was  made  only  about 
fifty  per  cent  of  the  clubs  were  self-supjjorting,  but 
ten  years  after  the  change  was  made,  it  was  the  excep- 
tion to  find  a club  that  did  not  support  itself.  Again 
from  the  financial  standpoint  a great  gain  was  made. 
Prior  to  the  change  there  was  always  a yearly  deficit 
of  at  least  £100,  but  in  1893  the  excess  of  assets 
over  liabilities  was  £1273.  The  control  exercised  by 
the  central  council  was  much  more  firm  after  the  clubs 
tliemselves  were  represented.  Until  then  it  was  very 
difficult  to  obtain  rejDorts  from  the  clubs.  In  1893 
out  of  the  150  clubs  in  London,  144  sent  in  returns. 
Evidently  the  method  of  democratic  management  has 
been  shown  to  be  essential  to  the  success  of  any  such 
plan. 

When  we  look  at  the  character  of  these  English 
clubs,  we  are  met  at  once  by  the  fact  that  they  are 
purely  social  clubs.  No  attempt  has  ever  been  made 
to  intrude  any  other  motive.  These  clubs  are  nothing 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


85 


more,  but  nothing  less,  than  an  institution  to  provide 
men  with  the  opportunity  of  social  intercourse  under 
morally  innocuous  conditions.  The  club  is  not  regarded 
in  any  especial  sense  as  a means  of  salvation  to  any- 
body. No  wealthy  Londoner  joins  his  club  from 
such  a motive  ; neither  does  the  East  End  workman 
become  a member  of  a club  with  any  specially  exalted 
purpose.  These  clubs  have  been  developed  by  the 
workingmen  to  provide  for  themselves  means  of  re- 
laxation. A club,  wherever  it  exists,  is  simply  the 
outcome  of  the  needs  of  the  community  for  social 
recreation,  and  must  be  judged  by  its  ability  to  meet 
this  need,  and  not  any  other  need  that  might  be 
suggested. 

But  while  this  has  remained  the  primary  motive  of 
these  English  clubs,  all  of  them  have  certain  educa- 
tional features.  Of  119  clubs  which  sent  in  returns  in 
1896,  83  have  libraries  and  68  have  lectures.  These 
lectures  are  commonly  given  on  Sundays,  but  many  of 
the  clubs  have  lectures  on  week  days  as  well.  In  addi- 
tion, classes  are  held  in  which  such  subjects  as  short- 
hand, bookkeeping,  French,  and  literature  are  taught. 
In  addition,  the  institute  itself  encourages  educational 
work  among  the  clubs,  sends  out  circulating  libraries, 
gives  lectures  at  the  central  hall  in  Clerkenwell  Road, 
plans  excursions,  etc.  The  clubs  also  become  interested 
through  the  institute  in  questions  of  social  reform  that 
bear  upon  the  life  of  the  workingmen.  The  London 
clubs  recently  joined  in  a memorial  to  the  London  School 
Board  asking  that  evening  schools  should  be  free,  that 
the  classes  should  be  more  largely  advertised  in  the  dis- 
trict, that  working  people  might  be  associated  in  the 


86 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


management  of  these  schools,  and  that  more  of  the 
social  and  recreative  element  might  be  introduced  as  a 
regular  feature  in  connection  with  them. 

For  amusements  all  the  clubs  supply  cards  and  bil- 
liard tables,  and  have  occasional  entertainments,  to 
which  the  women  are  always  invited.  Athletic  and 
gymnastic  exercises  do  not  seem  to  have  found  their 
way  into  these  English  clubs,  although  the  desirability 
of  these  is  conceded  by  the  managers.  Excursions  are 
often  planned  called  “ The  Saturday  Afternoon  Visits,” 
the  object  of  which  is  to  combine  recreation  and  in- 
struction and  to  foster  social  intercourse  at  the  same 
time.  The  entertainments  of  the  clubs  consist  of  con- 
certs and  occasionally  are  more  ambitious,  professional 
talent  being  engaged  from  outside.  On  the  whole,  if 
there  is  nothing  very  uplifting  in  the  amusements  of 
these  clubs,  at  least  they  are  free  from  anything  objec- 
tionable. 

The  most  remarkable  feature  of  these  clubs,  how- 
ever, remains  to  be  mentioned.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  club  movement,  it  was  the  exception  to  find  clubs 
which  supplied  liquor  to  the  members  ; but  as  time  went 
on,  the  habit  became  increasingly  common  until  to-day 
the  majority  of  the  city  clubs  have  a bar.  The  relation 
of  self-support  to  the  pi'ovision  of  liquors  also  is  seen 
to  be  very  close.  In  1871-72  alcoholic  drinks  were 
supplied  in  only  fifteen  clubs  out  of  164  sending  in 
I’eturns,  and  only  about  one  third  of  that  number  were 
described  as  self-supporting.  Five  years  later  out  of 
194  clubs  which  made  returns,  thirty-five  per  cent  sujd- 
plied  beer  to  the  members,  and  rather  more  than  half 
of  these  clubs  were  self-supporting.  There  seems  to 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


87 


be  no  doubt  that  this  increased  financial  independence 
is  to  some  extent  due  to  tlie  increased  sale  of  drinks. 
Under  democratic  management  this  process  continued, 
314  clubs,  out  of  the  366  making  returns,  supjDlying 
liquor  according  to  the  reports  of  1893,  and  as  we  have 
seen,  just  about  this  proportion  of  the  clubs  were  self- 
supporting.  The  management  of  the  clubs  then  feels 
warranted  in  making  the  assertion  that,  as  a rule,  work- 
ingmen’s clubs  cannot  exist  as  self-managed  and  self- 
supporting  institutions  without  the  sale  of  stimulants. 

This  development  was  certainly  unexpected  by  the 
founders  of  the  club  movement.  The  primary  idea  of 
the  founders  was  to  strike  a blow  against  intemperance, 
so  prevalent  among  the  industrial  working  classes. 
For  several  years,  the  institute  made  a bold  stand 
against  the  introduction  of  liquors,  and  the  same  expe- 
rience was  repeated  year  after  year.  Workingmen  did 
not  care  to  join  temperance  clubs,  or,  if  they  joined 
them,  withdrew  their  membership  when  the  novelty  of 
the  thing  had  worn  off.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
the  excise  laws  in  England  do  not  require  that  a club 
which  disburses  liquors  to  its  members  only  shall  be 
licensed.  In  order  to  conform  to  the  excise  laws,  the 
only  rule  necessary  was  that  other  than  club  members 
should  not  be  able  to  obtain  drinks  by  paying  for  them. 
In  addition,  in  order  to  avoid  any  possible  danger,  the 
rule  was  made  that  no  club  could  be  admitted  to  the 
institute  over  which  a control  was  exercised  by  any 
brewer  or  liquor  dealer.  The  question  of  the  result  of 
the  sale  of  liquors  to  members  remains  to  be  answered. 
It  is  claimed  by  the  management  that  in  few  of  the 
clubs  is  drunkenness  common,  and  that  the  amount  of 


88 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


money  spent  for  drink  by  the  members  of  the  clubs  is 
very  moderate,  on  an  average  not  over  twopence  a 
member  per  night,  and  that,  while  complaints  are  not 
wholly  groundless,  the  abuses  are  comparatively  few 
and  the  results  upon  the  life  of  the  clubs  and  the  mem- 
bers not  harmful.  The  claim  is  made  that  less  liquor 
is  drunk  by  the  membei’s  in  their  clubs  than  would  be 
drunk  in  the  public  houses,  and  that  on  the  w'hole  the 
life  of  the  clubs  is  orderly. 

Such,  then,  is  the  remarkable  workingmen’s  club 
movement  in  England.  Summarizing  the  story,  w'e 
obtain  the  following  facts  : 1.  It  was  successfully  begxm 
as  a philanthropic  temperance  movement,  and  had  no 
serious  difficulty  in  planting  and  sustaining  a large 
number  of  workingmen’s  clubs.  2.  It  attained  its 
greatest  development  and  its  financial  independence 
only  by  permitting  the  clubs  to  govern  themselves 
under  careful  and  competent  direction.  3.  All  educa- 
tional features  were  made  subordinate  to  the  primary 
idea  of  recreation.  4.  The  sale  of  liquor  to  members 
proved  to  be  necessary  for  self-support,  and  did  not 
seriously  impair  the  usefulness  of  the  clubs. 

There  seems  to  he  no  good  reason  why  such  clubs 
should  not  he  successful  in  our  American  cities.  A 
company  of  men  and  women  interested  in  social  pro- 
gress, mth  means  at  their  disposal,  would  engage  the 
services  of  a skilled  secretary,  wdio  would  proceed  to 
form  such  clubs  from  among  the  existing  pleasure  and 
political  clubs,  or  to  form  new  clubs  comi)osed  of  those 
not  at  present  members  of  any  j^urely  social  organiza- 
tion. There  would  he  small  initiation  fees  and  regular 
dues.  The  rooms  for  meeting  would  he  chosen  with 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


89 


care,  the  effort  being  to  avoid  connection  with  saloons 
on  the  one  hand  or  ^philanthropic  institutions  on  the 
other,  unless  these  had  the  full  confidence  of  the  cluh 
members.  There  would  be  above  all  no  taint  of  patron- 
age. The  clubs  would  be  given  a large  measure  of  self- 
government.  This  might  mean  the  overthrow  of  some 
clubs  because  of  the  incapacity  or  jealousy  of  the  mem- 
bers, but  the  danger  is  much  less  than  the  alternate 
danger  of  patronage.  The  idea  of  recreation  would  be 
kept  u^ppermost,  any  educational  features  being  added 
only  as  they  were  called  for.  With  regard  to  the  fur- 
nishing of  intoxicants,  the  experience  of  English  clubs 
would  not  be  decisive.  It  is  true  that  financial  inde- 
pendence is  the  essential  condition  to  the  permanency 
of  any  movement  of  this  kind,  but  it  may  not  be  true 
that  this  can  he  secured  only  by  the  sale  of  liquors,  and 
it  might  prove  to  be  true  that  liquors  could  not  be  sold 
to  the  members  without  imperiling  the  life  of  the  club. 
Here  is  a question,  then,  that  would  have  to  be  left  open 
for  experience  to  decide.  In  conversation  recently,  a 
prominent  laboring  man  of  New  York,  whose  father 
had  been  instrumental  in  starting  the  English  move- 
ment, declared  that  the  workingmen  of  our  great  cities 
would  welcome  such  clubs  just  as  the  English  working- 
men welcomed  them.  He  considered  a bar  indispen- 
sable, and  thought  there  would  be  no  more  ill  effects 
than  have  resulted  there.  He  was  on  the  point,  he  said, 
of  beginning  a similar  experiment  in  New  York  when 
the  Raines  Law  made  his  plan  impossible. 

One  word  needs  to  be  added.  While  women  are  not 
active  members  of  the  English  clubs,  they  are  frequent 
attendants  at  special  meetings.  At  entertainments  their 


90 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


presence  is  so  invariable  as  to  amount  to  an  etiquette 
or  ritual.  The  clubs  are  an  aid  to  the  home  life,  not  a 
hindrance.  A similar  social  development  in  our  Ameri- 
can cities  would  have,  it  is  safe  to  say,  the  approval 
of  the  workingwomen,  who  would  share  directly  and 
indirectly  in  its  benefits. 

The  second  method  of  providing  clubs  for  the  people 
is  to  make  for  them  clubs  in  which  the  idea  of  self- 
support  is  abandoned,  and  in  which  much  greater 
facilities  of  one  kind  and  another  are  provided  than 
is  possible  in  the  clubs  which  have  been  described. 
The  clubs  already  discussed  are  people’s  clubs  in  the 
strict  meaning  of  the  term.  The  location  and  appoint- 
ment of  their  club-rooms  and  the  scope  of  their  actin- 
ties  represent  only  what  is  within  the  reach  of  the 
working  people  themselves,  and  can  be  paid  for  out 
of  their  own  pockets.  But  there  is  another  form  of 
workingmen’s  clubs  which  is  provided  by  private  phi- 
lanthropy with  club-rooms  or  clubhouses,  furnished 
at  a cost  which  cannot  be  met  by  the  people  them- 
selves. The  expenses  of  such  an  establishment  are 
far  beyond  the  receipts  from  the  membership  dues, 
and  are  met  either  by  endowment  for  the  purpose,  or 
by  the  contribution  of  funds.  Of  workingmen’s  clubs 
of  this  type,  there  are  many  examples  in  England  and 
some  in  our  country,  which  may  serve  as  illustrations 
of  what  has  been  accomplished,  and  of  what  may  be 
done  by  any  who  are  inclined  to  invest  money  in  this 
branch  of  social  reform.  It  is  possible  to  limit  the 
discussion  here  to  the  experiments  which  have  been 
inaugurated  in  our  own  country,  since  they  equal  in 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


91 


effect  any  that  have  been  attempted  in  England  or 
on  the  Continent. 

There  is  no  better  illustration  of  a workingman’s 
club  of  this  type  to  be  found  than  the  well-known 
Hollywood  Inn  at  Yonkers,  N.  Y.  ^ The  story  of  the 
growth  of  this  institution  contains  all  that  can  be  said 
upon  this  form  of  social  experiment.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  a Hollywood  Inn  presupposes  a William  F. 
Cochran.  The  cost  of  the  club  at  Yonkers  was  about 
$150,000,  and  Mr.  Cochran  himself  estimated  the  run- 
ning expenses  at  about  $3000  yearly.  This  amount 
for  three  years  was  to  be  pledged  by  the  peojjle  of 
Yonkers  before  he  would  erect  the  building.  The 
actual  cost  of  maintaining  the  institution,  however, 
was  much  in  excess  of  this  amount.  The  club  began 
with  a fund  of  $5000,  and  this  sum,  together  with  an 
income  of  about  $2000  from  membership  dues  and 
other  sources,  no  more  than  met  the  expenses.  The 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  such  a club,  then, 
demands  a large  initial  outlay  and  yearly  contribu- 
tions above  its  receipts  from  membership  dues. 

The  club  building  is  a fine  stone  structure,  forty  feet 
by  one  hundred,  and  six  stories  in  height.  The  base- 
ment is  devoted  to  bowling-alleys,  men’s  gymnasium 
and  locker-rooms,  with  shower  and  needle  baths  adjoin- 
ing. The  first  floor,  or  main  entrance,  contains  a 
large  reception  hall,  offices  of  administration,  smoking 
and  music  rooms,  shuffle-board  and  coat  rooms,  and  in 
the  most  conspicuous  and  attractive  part  of  the  floor  a 
well-furnished  and  liberally  supplied  library.  To  this 

1 For  the  following  description  of  the  Inn  the  editors  are  indebted 
to  the  Rev.  James  E.  Freeman  of  Yonkers,  N.  Y. 


92 


SUBSTITUTES  FOB  THE  SALOON. 


room  the  wives  and  children  of  members  are  admitted, 
and  to  them  the  privilege  of  drawing  books  is  extended. 
On  the  second  floor  are  found  eight  j)ool  and  two 
billiard  tables.  The  price  is  two  cents  per  cue  for 
the  former,  and  thirty  cents  an  hour  for  the  latter. 
The  tub-baths,  cigar-counter,  and  lavatories  are  also 
on  this  floor.  The  third  floor  is  occupied  by  a large 
hall,  with  gallery  accommodating  five  hundred  people. 
Here  entertainments  for  the  members  are  given  tvdce 
a month,  to  which  a member  may  bring  his  wife  or 
a friend.  The  next  fioor  contains  the  class-rooms, 
where  instruction  is  given  in  mechanical  and  archi- 
tectural drawing,  stenography,  type-writing,  bookkeep- 
ing, vocal  music,  and  first  aid  to  the  injured,  the  last 
being  one  of  the  most  popular  and  satisfactory  depart- 
ments in  the  educational  work.  The  fifth  floor  is 
given  over  entirely  to  boys  under  eighteen  years  of 
age,  the  membership  fee  being  two  dollars  per  annum. 
Here  we  have  a microcosm  of  the  larger  club : game- 
rooms,  gymnasium,  locker  and  reading  rooms,  and 
baths.  The  top  floor  is  used  by  the  janitor  and  his 
assistant  for  their  apartments.  Besides  this  building 
the  management  has  secured  a lai-ge  inclosed  field,  and 
a suitable  clubhouse  has  been  built  for  the  convenience 
of  members. 

The  primary  object  of  the  Hollywood  Inn  is  to  fur- 
nish for  men  of  moderate  means  a first-class  clubhouse 
with  privileges  which  heretofore  were  only  afforded  at 
a cost  of  from  fifty  to  sixty  dollars  a year.  It  was 
designed  especiall}^  as  a saloon  substitute ; therefore 
everything  which  the  saloon  affords  that  is  innocent 
in  itself,  as  pool  and  cards,  was  made  a conspicuous 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


93 


featiire  of  the  enterprise.  The  institution  became 
as  democratic  as  the  saloon,  in  which  all  men  might 
meet  without  discrimination  as  to  politics,  religion,  or 
social  conditions.  The  appearance  of  charity  was 
avoided  by  requiring  dues,  which,  however,  were  placed 
within  the  reach  of  the  poorest,  — but  three  dollars  a 
year  in  two  successive  installments.  In  addition,  rates 
were  charged  for  the  games,  but  were  put  a fraction 
below  the  rates  charged  in  the  ordinary  saloon.  The 
baths,  library,  gymnasium,  and  entertainments  were 
free  to  members,  and  the  game-rooms  free  to  all,  and 
lastly  the  control  of  the  club  was  placed  partially  in 
the  hands  of  the  members  themselves. 

That  the  privileges  of  such  an  institution  are  appre- 
ciated is  shown  from  the  fact  that  the  membership 
rose  from  665  the  first  year  to  817  the  second  year, 
and  at  present  is  somewhat  over  one  thousand.  Its 
membership  is  not  limited  to  workingmen,  and  it  was 
but  natural  that  business  men  and  clerks  and  others 
should  have  been  attracted  by  its  superior  advantages. 
Yet  it  is  gratifying  to  the  management  that  of  the 
present  members  of  Hollywood  Inn  over  five  hundred 
are  artisans  and  laboring  men. 

Such  is  the  Hollywood  Inn.  The  experiment  may 
be  repeated  as  often  as  men  of  means  feel  inclined  to 
invest  their  money  in  this  way.  The  influence  for 
good  of  such  an  institution  upon  any  considerable 
body  of  workingmen  must  be  far-reaching.  If  it  does 
not  empty  the  saloons  at  once,  it  offers  a complete 
substitute  for  them,  and  must  save  many  a man  from 
their  evils,  and  furnish  him  with  the  recreation  and 
means  of  self-improvement  that  he  needs. 


94 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


Hollywood  Inn  does  not  stand  alone.  It  is  the  most 
conspicuous  example  of  its  kind  probably  existing  in 
the  country,  but  many  if  not  all  of  its  features  are 
to  be  found  in  less  pretentious  establishments,  and  it 
deserves  to  be  noted  that  the  Hollywood  Inn  Club 
existed  before  its  present  clubhouse,  and  that  its  prin- 
ciples may  be  employed  to  advantage  in  starting  any 
club  of  the  kind.  The  East  Boston  Athletic  Club,  in 
its  original  form,  is  an  illustration  of  the  same  type 
of  club  planted  by  private  philanthropy,  and  it,  too, 
exerted  a wide  influence.  The  “ R ” of  Philadelphia 
is  another  example.  This  institution  is  the  result  of 
the  generosity  of  a woman  who  gave  the  money  for 
its  purchase,  and  provides  the  funds  for  its  mainte- 
nance. The  initial  letter,  which  has  come  to  be  its 
name,  stands  for  those  things  which  the  club  was 
planned  to  provide : Resort,  Restaurant,  Recreation, 
Reading-room,  Rest,  and  Reformation.  It  is  a three- 
story  structure,  containing  lunch-room,  reading-room, 
and  smoking-rooms.  It  is  open  from  eight  o’clock  in 
the  morning  until  ten  o’clock  in  the  evening.  Lectures 
are  given,  and  discussions  provided  upon  matters  of 
current  interest,  political,  scientific,  and  social.  There 
is  no  membership  list,  and  no  organization  connected 
with  it,  and  thus  the  club  feature  is  not  dominant. 
Philadelphia  has  another  institution,  which  is  some- 
what different  in  character  from  those  that  have  been 
described,  while  it  still  presents  the  essential  fea- 
tui'es  of  a workingmen’s  club.  The  “ Lighthouse,” 
located  in  the  heart  of  the  great  working-class  district 
of  Kensington,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  social 
institutions  in  the  city.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  desire 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


95 


to  provide  for  the  workingmen  some  social  substitute 
for  the  saloons.  It  began  in  a small  way  in  the  winter 
of  1893  and  1894,  when  two  rooms  in  the  Episcopal 
Hospital  Mission  were  opened  every  Friday  and  Sat- 
urday evening.  The  next  winter  found  the  rooms 
ci’owded,  and  in  1895  the  “ Lighthouse  ” was  secured 
through  assistance  given  by  friends  interested  in  the 
work.  The  entire  establishment  conforms  to  the  good 
features  of  the  saloon  without  any  of  its  drawbacks. 
Its  restaurant  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  city,  its  tem- 
perance bar  is  the  centre  of  the  sociability  of  the 
neighborhood,  and  it  reaches  a large  and  ever  increasing 
constituency  of  workingmen.  Here  the  club  idea  is 
prominent.  The  “ Lighthouse  ” is  run  by  the  working- 
men ; it  is  strictly  their  own  institution.  They  elect 
the  officers,  and  transact  the  business.  To  this  demo- 
cratic control  may  be  attributed  much  of  its  success. 
All  experience  goes  to  show  that  such  a method  of 
control  is  essential  to  the  success  of  any  workingmen’s 
club.  The  “ Lighthouse  ” makes  much  of  its  religious 
and  temperance  activities,  yet  in  its  case  this  does  not 
seem  to  be  detrimental  to  its  work.  On  the  contrary, 
in  the  minds  of  its  managers,  it  is  the  secret  of  its 
success. 

These  are  examples  of  this  form  of  a workingman’s 
club.  Whether  these  clubs  be  small  or  large,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  they  are  not  self-supporting,  that 
they  depend  for  their  existence  upon  gifts  of  money 
and  yearly  contributions  for  their  support.  Where 
men  and  women  of  means  are  inclined  to  give  of  their 
wealth  to  provide  social  opportunity  for  the  poor,  these 
experiments  are  sufficient  to  indicate  how  their  money 


96 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


may  wisely  be  invested,  but  such  clubs  cannot  hope  to 
become  self-supporting  institutions. 

Another  form  of  workingmen’s  clubs  remains  to  be 
noticed,  in  many  ways  the  most  important  and  promis- 
ing of  them  all.  One  of  the  most  encouraging  signs  of 
the  times  is  the  growing  sense  of  responsibility  felt  by 
employer’s  for  the  happiness  and  well-being  of  their 
employees.  This  responsibility  is  being  recognized 
each  year  by  a larger  number  of  mercantile  and  manu- 
facturing establishments  wdiich  employ  large  numbers 
of  men  and  women,  and  each  year  adds  to  the  number 
of  such  establishments  which  seek  to  provide  means  for 
the  recreation  and  improvement  of  their  working 
forces.  The  motive  is  not  wholly  a philanthropic  one. 
A return  for  every  cent  of  expense  is  made  in  the 
increased  efficiency  and  devotion  of  the  employees. 
Tradesmen  and  manufacturers  are  finding  that  these 
enterprises  have  a distinct  economic  value.  It  is  safe, 
therefore,  to  suppose  that  the  future  will  witness  a 
general  extension  among  all  large  commercial  and 
manufacturing  concerns  of  this  habit  of  providing  suit- 
able means  of  recreation  for  the  people. 

When  we  look  at  the  life  of  young  business  men,  the 
necessity  for  some  sort  of  wholesome  social  opj^ortu- 
nity  becomes  very  apparent.  Thousands  of  them  are 
condemned  to  the  boarding-house  in  the  evening,  for 
they  will  not  join  religious  institutions,  nor  can  they 
afford  the  better  class  of  amusements.  IMany  wallc  the 
streets  ; many  patronize  cheap  amusements  ; many  have 
little  sociables  at  home  ; some  belong  to  bicycle  clubs  ; 
some  to  lodges  ; some  take  advantage  of  what  is  offered 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


97 


in  night  schools  and  free  lectures.  But  the  majority 
of  them  would  be  ready  material  for  a club  of  their  own. 
This  statement  was  substantiated  by  five  overseers  of 
the  five  largest  dry-goods  stores  in  New  York  City, 
who  said  that  they  i^ersoiially  would  support  such  a 
movement,  contribute  money  to  it,  and  knew  of  many 
clerks  who  would  be  glad  to  do  the  same.  One  said 
his  idea  had  always  been  that  the  large  surplus  of 
their  benefit  association  should  go  toward  some  such 
club.  A member  of  one  firm  said  that  he  had  been 
waiting  for  his  clerks  to  express  a desire  in  that  direc- 
tion, but  apparently  all  are  ready  to  act  if  some  one 
takes  the  initiative,  collects  money  from  outside,  and 
gives  the  clerks  an  evening  home. 

A beginning  has  already  been  made.  One  of  the 
largest  dry-goods  stores  in  Boston  has  a musical  club 
among  its  employees,  and  provides  free  instruction  in 
choral  singing.  In  New  York  a firm  has  established  a 
school  for  the  cash-boys,  where  attendance  is  required 
on  two  half  days  a week.  Another  started  a literaiy 
and  social  club,  with  addresses,  reading,  and  whist. 
These  are  but  small  beginnings,  yet  they  indicate  the 
drift,  and  illustrate  what  may  be  done  and  what  ought 
to  be  done  by  every  large  retail  establishment  in  our 
great  cities. 

The  degree  to  which  such  philanthropic  activities 
may  be  carried  and  the  results  which  may  be  achieved 
are  very  clearly  demonstrated  by  the  extraordinary 
success  of  certain  manufacturing  establishments  in 
Europe  and  in  America.  England  takes  the  lead  in 
factory  reforms  and  innovations.  For  example.  Hazel 
Watson  & Vinie,  manufacturers  of  coke,  and  the 


98 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


proprietors  of  factories  where  Sunlight  and  Life-buoy 
soaps  are  made,  have  provided  for  their  employees 
clubs  and  schools,  recreation  parks  and  model  cottages. 
In  this  country  we  have  such  firms  as  the  Pope  Manu- 
facturing Company  of  Hartford,  the  Warner  Brothers 
Company  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  and  the  National 
Cash  Register  Company  of  Dayton,  Ohio.  The  War- 
ner Brothers  employ  chiefly  women.  Their  Seaside 
Institute  suggests  what  might  well  be  done  for  men. 
A building  was  erected  in  1886  by  the  company  for 
the  use  of  its  employees.  Its  cost,  including  furni- 
ture, was  about  i75,000.  It  contains  a restaurant, 
where  lunches  and  meals  are  served  at  cost,  a large 
reading-room  and  library,  well  equipped  with  popular 
books,  music-room,  bathroom,  and  lavatory.  On  the 
third  floor  are  a hall  and  several  class-rooms.  The 
privileges  of  the  building  ai’e  free  to  all  the  employees 
of  the  company.  The  reading-room  and  library  have 
been  well  patronized.  The  employees  have  formed 
classes  and  have  entertainments,  to  which  men  are  ad- 
mitted. The  Pope  Manufacturing  Company  of  Hart- 
ford has  provided  lunch-rooms  and  reading-rooms  for 
the  men.  On  an  average,  forty  per  cent  of  the  em- 
ployees of  the  concern  have  taken  advantage  of  these 
rooms,  and  more  would  doubtless  do  so  were  it  not  for 
the  fact  that  they  live  within  a few  minutes’  walk  from 
the  factory.  The  operatives  have  appreciated  the 
advantages  of  the  rooms,  and  the  management  feels 
that  it  secures  a better  class  of  men  as  employees  than 
can  be  found  in  factories  where  no  attention  is  paid  to 
their  comfort. 

The  National  Cash  Register  Companj"  of  Dayton,  ^as 
1 American  Journal  of  Sociology,  May,  189S. 


CLUBS  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 


99 


is  well  known,  has  carried  the  idea  of  cooperation  with 
its  employees  and  of  provision  for  their  social  needs 
further  than  any  other  manufacturing'  establishment 
of  our  country.  Numerous  clubs  exist  among’  the 
employees.  These  begin  at  the  kindergartens,  and 
after  1915  no  employee  is  to  be  received  who  is  not  a 
graduate  of  the  kindergarten.  Then  come  the  boys’ 
clubs,  which  have  a place  of  their  own  to  meet  in,  the 
boys’  brigades,  and  the  Sunday  schools.  The  young 
women  and  the  mothers  have  guilds  of  their  own. 
For  the  men  there  are  several  clubs.  Thei’e  is  the 
Advance  Club,  composed  of  the  officers,  foremen,  assist- 
ant foi’emen,  heads  of  departments,  and  all  in  author- 
ity. Fifty  members  of  the  rank  and  file  are  chosen 
alternately  from  the  main  body  of  the  factory  em- 
ployees to  take  part  in  each  meeting.  These  meetings 
are  held  in  the  factory  theatre  each  Friday  morning, 
the  session  lasting  for  an  hour  and  a half  of  the  com- 
pany’s time.  The  object  of  the  club  is  the  advance- 
ment of  the  general  interest  of  the  company.  Here 
are  offered  criticisms  or  suggestions  for  the  benefit  of 
the  company  or  its  employees.  Then  there  is  the 
Progress  Club,  which  is  the  employees’  club  for  general 
discussion  of  topics,  such  as  : “ Is  competition  the  life 
of  trade  ? ” “ What  training  besides  his  trade  should 
a mechanic  have  ? ” In  addition,  there  is  the  Choral 
Society,  the  South  Park  Club,  the  Relief  Association, 
and  four  or  five  musical  organizations.  The  company 
provides  several  places  of  meeting  for  these  men’s 
clubs.  In  the  business  centre  of  the  city  the  company 
has  a large  hall.  Here  most  of  the  organizations  meet, 
and  many  lectures  and  entertainments  are  given  for 


100 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


the  benefit  of  emj)loyees.  Near  the  factory  itself  is 
the  administration  building,  in  which  is  a reading-room 
and  a well-directed  circulating  library  of  several  hun- 
dred volumes  for  the  use  of  the  entire  working  force. 
In  addition  there  is  the  “ N.  C.  E.  House  of  Useful- 
ness.” This  is  in  reality  a small  social  settlement  for 
the  benefit  of  the  people  in  the  neighborhood.  Its 
rooms  are  especially  valuable  for  influencing  the  boys, 
but  the  men  come  freely,  and  at  noon  fill  its  rooms. 
The  result  of  these  efforts  is  best  seen  in  the  testimony 
of  a brewer  who  recently  sold  out  a saloon  near  the 
factory  and  moved  away,  saying  the  nearer  he  came  to 
the  N.  C.  E.  factory  the  worse  it  was  for  his  business. 

If  all  factories  would  imitate  even  upon  a small  scale 
the  work  which  has  been  carried  on  at  Dayton,  the 
same  would  be  found  to  be  true.  The  experience  of 
this  and  other  factories  has  conclusively  shown  that 
any  manufacturing  establishment  which  wdll  simply 
take  a good-sized  room,  put  into  it  books,  checkers, 
chess,  and  then  form  a club  from  among  the  em- 
ployees to  use  and  control  it,  will  be  doing  much  to 
offset  the  evils  of  the  saloon. 


CHAPTER  V. 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 

“ The  future  of  the  saloon  depends  on  public  sen- 
timent and  economic  conditions,  and  these  will  only 
impi’ove  with  the  advance  of  public  education.”  Edu- 
cation has  a commercial  as  well  as  an  ethical  value. 
A high  average  of  intelligence  is  essential  to  a good 
popular  government  and  a well-ordered  society,  an 
intelliffence  which  can  discriminate  between  the  bad 
and  what  is  good  for  oneself  and  for  the  welfare  of  the 
community. 

Education  from  our  present  point  of  view,  that  of 
the  saloon  substitute,  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the 
problem  of  character-building,  with  the  sentiment  of  all 
modern  educators  that  we  have  not  merely  to  make  the 
man  a better  workman,  but  the  workman  a better  man. 
If  it  holds  of  intemperance  as  of  other  diseases,  that  a 
preventive  is  better  than  a cure,  we  are  not  far  from 
our  subject  when  we  discuss  the  value  and  bearing  of 
secondary  school  education,  and  even  the  kindergarten, 
whose  aim  is  self-realization,  development  of  tastes, 
and  good  citizenship.  A moment’s  reflection  will  show 
that  if  the  school  could  accomplish  its  aim,  many  of  the 
questions  which  arise  concerning  the  saloon  and  its 
substitutes  would  be  at  least  partially  solved.  The 
ideal  school  is  so  organized  that  the  child  feels  a re- 
sponsibility to  the  body  of  pupils  as  a whole  and  as 


102 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


individuals,  and  he  learns  to  recognize  that  upon  his 
act  depends  the  welfare  of  his  little  community.  With 
the  right  methods  of  instruction,  the  position  which  the 
school  holds  as  a factor  in  the  formation  of  public 
sentiment  and  the  determining  of  economic  conditions 
can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  Grant,  then,  to  elemen- 
tary education  the  great  responsibility  wdiich  belongs 
to  it,  and  let  every  effort  be  made  by  this  means  to 
form  characters  that  in  due  time  will  demand  and 
obtain  other  kinds  of  recreation  than  the  saloon  affords. 

According  to  good  authorities,  only  six  per  cent  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  are  systematically  edu- 
cated after  leaving  the  common  schools,  at  about  fourteen 
years  of  age.  As  a result,  the  man  has  no  resources 
within  himself.  His  early  training  has  left  him  weak- 
willed.  His  early  lack  of  education  has  left  him  without 
desire  or  interest  for  healthful  pursuits.  Adult  educa- 
tion must  form  a permanent  part  of  our  educational 
scheme.  What  systematic  education  can  there  be  for 
the  thousands  who  leave  school  at  fourteen  and  from 
that  time  have  to  earn  a livelihood  ? And  provided  we 
can  ari’ange  a system  of  education,  what  shall  bring  the 
system  and  the  people  together?  The  second  question 
must  be  answered  first.  The  system  cannot  touch  the 
people  unless  it  begins  where  they  left  off,  and  unless 
its  subject  matter  is  related  to  their  daily  life,  their 
home,  business,  political  creed,  or  the  history  of  their 
country.  When  the  system  rises  from  a man’s  own 
plane  of  knowledge  and  thought,  then  a relation  is 
established,  and  the  one  thing  ireeded  is  some  one  whose 
personal  interest  in  his  fellow  men  is  so  great  that  he 
will  open  their  eyes  to  what  is  right  before  them. 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


103 


How  far  does  the  municipal  night  school  go  to  meet 
the  need  ? Here  is  a system  which  the  law  enforces 
in  every  large  city.  The  work  begins  where  the  gram- 
mar school  stops.  The  instruction  is  free  and  the 
building  is  central.  The  institution  is  a beneficent  one, 
and  the  attendance  in  many  cases  proves  its  work  to  be 
important.  It  offers  a chance  to  any  boy  or  girl  who 
leaves  the  grammar  school  because  he  must  work,  to 
continue  his  study.  But  we  must  remember  that  as 
soon  as  the  boy  is  at  work,  whether  in  the  mill  or  the 
shop,  he  has  new  interests,  and  it  is  harder  than  ever 
for  him,  at  sixteen,  to  see  the  practical  bearing  of  Eng- 
lish grammar  upon  weaving.  The  foreigner  wants  to 
learn  English  — not  the  grammar,  but  the  language. 
The  curriculum  must  be  broad.  An  examination  of 
the  curricula  of  certain  night  schools  in  New  York  and 
other  cities  proves  that  some  educators  at  least  have 
realized  this,  and  a visit  to  the  schools  shows  the  effec- 
tive result.  Bookkeeping  always  appeals  to  the  wage- 
earner  as  practical,  and  that  is  offered  him.  Manual 
training,  drawing,  singing,  gymnastics,  civics,  history, 
political  economy,  physiology,  subjects  which  are  allied 
with  the  wage-earner’s  immediate  interests,  are  to  be 
emphasized.  When  they  are,  there  will  be  fewer  night 
schools  on  the  point  of  closing  because  the  pupils  do 
not  come. 

In  any  educational  system,  the  teacher  is  moi’e  im- 
portant than  the  subject,  and  in  this  respect  many  of 
the  night  schools  are  sadly  lacking.  In  some  cases 
men  and  women  are  teaching  in  them  because  there  is 
no  place  for  them  in  the  day  schools.  Worse  than  this, 
they  are  sometimes  there  because  the  meagre  salary 


104 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


paid  for  two  sessions  of  work  makes  a third  essential. 
The  pupils  who  come  weary  from  a day  of  toil  look  for 
inspiration  to  a leader  more  weary  from  her  own  day’s 
toil.  There  are  not  enough  teachers  who  feel  that  iu 
the  night  schools  there  are  problems  to  be  solved  which 
are  so  vital  that  they  dare  not  stay  away.  One  weak- 
ness of  the  night  school  lies  in  not  arousing  the  interests 
of  the  indifferent.  The  great  success  of  philanthropic 
work  in  this  direction  is  due  to  the  motive  which  takes 
the  workers  into  it.  The  competent  teacher  needs  to 
know  her  class  as  well  as  her  subject.  From  a personal 
knowledge  comes  the  sympathy  which  really  helps.  In 
this  particular  work,  the  teacher  may  well  he  a district 
worker,  knowing  the  community  from  which  she  can 
recruit  her  class,  its  needs  and  its  ambitions. 

The  night  schools  should  increase  in  number  as  well 
as  in  effectiveness.  An  educational  report  from  Xew 
York  City  in  1898  shows  that  of  the  two  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  primary  and  grammar  schools  in  Greater 
New  York,  only  forty-two  were  used  as  evening  schools. 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  besides  the  ignorant  men  and 
women  there  are  thousands  of  children  over  fourteen 
whom  the  law  does  not  compel  to  go  to  school,  hut  who 
could  he  benefited  hy  the  use  of  the  school  buildings 
out  of  school  hours,  this  seems  a waste  of  capital  and 
opportunity,  A report  from  jMiuneapolis  and  St. 
Paul  in  the  same  year  said  : “ The  public  school  author- 
ities in  both  cities  have  maintained  night  schools  until 
the  last  three  or  four  years,  when  the  financial  stress 
forced  the  boards  to  cut  all  but  the  absolutely  essen- 
tial. In  their  judgment,  the  night  school  was  one  of 
these.”  Every  schoolhouse  in  every  city  should  be  a 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


105 


centre  o£  intellectual  life  for  the  district  in  which  it  is 
placed,  and  the  public  schools  should  be  provided  with 
halls  where  adults  may  be  comfortably  seated.  Because 
it  is  a public  building,  the  people  have  a certain  feeling 
of  ownership,  the  work  goes  on  without  denominational 
prejudice,  and  there  is  no  atmosphere  of  charity,  — three 
conditions  which  go  far  to  qualify  it  as  a popular  edu- 
cational centre.  Its  use  need  not  be  limited  to  the 
work  of  evening  classes  provided  by  the  city’s  appro- 
priation, but  the  school  board  should  have  power  io 
make  it,  through  outside  means,  the  broad  citadel  of 
culture  which  it  ought  to  be.  If  the  city  approjDriation 
cover  the  expense,  so  much  the  better. 

The  Board  of  Education  in  New  York  is  supplying 
intellectual  entertainment  and  educational  stimulus  to 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  citizens  by  its  free  lecture 
courses.  Thirty-two  out  of  its  fifty-one  centres  are 
public  schools  (1899-1900).  “The  scope  of  the  work 
is  not  only  to  attract  and  entertain,  but  also  to  offer 
suggestions  that  are  of  practical  benefit,  and  to  give 
encouragement  and  stimulus  to  earnest  woi-kers.  . . . 
The  system  is  practical  and  utilitarian.  ...  It  is  grat- 
ifying to  note  that  the  work  is  becoming  rapidly  popu- 
larized, and  that  its  benefits  not  only  i-each  directly 
the  thousands  of  students  who  are  destined  in  their 
day  and  generation  to  uphold  American  reputation  for 
ability  along"  the  various  lines  of  human  effort,  but 
that  the  lecture  course  is  fast  becoming  a recognized 
educational  force  among  the  masses  of  the  community, 
attracting  thousands  out  of  the  slums  from  the  saloon, 
the  cheap  theatre,  and  the  dram-house.”  Since  1898 
the  course  has  been  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Henry 


106 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


M.  Leipziger.  The  following  figures  show  something 
of  the  results  of  the  organization’s  work : — 


For  1890-1, 

185  lectures;  attendance,  78,295 

1891-2, 

287 

U <( 

122,243 

1892-3, 

310 

u a 

130,830 

1893-4, 

383 

u n 

170,368 

1894-5, 

502 

u u 

224,118 

1895-6, 

1040 

ii  (( 

392,733 

1896-7, 

1065 

U 

426,927 

1897-8, 

1595 

a 

509,135 

1898-9, 

1923 

H it 

519,411 

1899-1900, 

1871 

it  it 

538,084 

Its  rapid  growth  is  attributable  to  its  broad  spirit 
and  to  the  discriminating  judgment  which  determines 
the  topics.  Many  distinguished  men  and  women  have 
gladly  aided  this  great  movement  by  taking  their 
places  before  these  cosmopolitan  audiences,  and  have 
addressed  them  with  enthusiasm.  A report  of  the  re- 
ception of  each  lecture,  the  number  in  attendance,  and 
other  details  is  sent  to  Dr.  Leipziger  ; moreover,  he  is 
informed  of  the  treatment  of  every  subject  listed.  The 
topic  and  its  treatment  must  appeal  to  the  audience, 
and  thus  the  people  become  “ the  final  arbiters  in  the 
selection  of  their  popular  ti’ibuues.”  The  courses  in 
history,  literature,  geography,  science,  and  civics  have 
been  so  labeled  and  developed  as  to  bring  to  willing 
listeners  the  highest  conceptions  of  duty,  of  patriotism, 
and  of  civilization.  The  experiment  of  selecting  certain 
centres  where  the  lectures  were  to  be  devoted  to  but 
two  topics  during  the  entire  winter  has  proved  success- 
ful. In  preparing  each  season’s  course,  a study  is 
made  of  the  needs  of  the  different  lecture  centres. 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


107 


The  loaning  of  books  from  the  platform,  to  be  used 
in  connection  with  the  syllabus  for  study,  has  been  a 
feature  of  the  lecture  courses.  In  some  cases  exam- 
inations have  been  held  and  papers  written.  In  this 
work  the  cooperation  of  the  librai-y  and  the  lecture 
hall  is  most  important.  Other  cities  than  New  York 
are  at  work  in  this  direction.  The  president  of  the 
Board  of  Education  of  Philadelphia  has  recommended 
the  free  lecture  courses  for  that  city,  and  Boston  and 
Chicago  already  offer  them. 

The  boards  of  education  do  not  stand  alone  in 
their  efforts  to  educate  the  masses  by  this  means.  It 
is  the  method  of  the  University  Extension  societies. 
The  University  Extension  movement  was  begun  in 
Philadelphia,  but  the  small  fee  which  was  charged  pre- 
vented the  work  reaching  as  far  as  it  should  until  the 
free  lecture  system  was  adopted.  The  lectures  have 
been  given  in  the  public  schools  and  at  branches  of 
the  Free  Library.  In  1899,  beside  the  University 
Extension  lectures  of  the  American  Society  in  twenty- 
four  places  in  Philadelphia,  lecturers  were  sent  to 
as  many  different  towns.  This  work  has  a great 
advantage  over  reading  circles  and  correspondence 
clubs,  because  of  the  contact  of  the  speaker  with  the 
people  he  is  teaching.  The  personal  conviction  of  a 
good  teacher  and  his  enthusiasm  must  arouse  interest. 
There  is  a chance,  too,  for  the  discussions  which  usually 
follow  the  University  Extension  lectures.  The  People’s 
University  Extension  Society  of  New  York  is  an 
organization  which  holds  itself  ready  to  furnish  classes 
and  courses  of  lectures  to  missions,  churches,  settle- 
ments, and  other  societies  that  receive  appeals  for 


108 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


instruction  which  they  cannot  supply.  Instruction  has 
been  given  in  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  places  in 
New  York  during  the  past  year  by  this  society,  and 
applications  are  constantly  increasing.  The  organiza- 
tion is  in  its  third  year,  and  its  work  has  already  been 
called  one  of  the  most  promising  signs  of  the  times. 
In  the  opinion  of  the  society,  hj'giene  and  civics  are 
the  subjects  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  individual 
and  the  State,  and  these  courses  are  free.  Audiences 
receiving  courses  in  subjects  of  less  fundamental  im- 
portance are  expected  to  bear  the  small  necessary 
expense.  The  influence  of  the  University  Extension 
movement  has  been  felt  in  hundreds  of  towns. 

In  many  cities,  other  educational  enterj^rises,  more 
local  in  character,  are  offering  free  lectures  to  the 
people.  The  following  are  a few  of  the  numerous  in- 
stitutions of  this  kind : Cooper  Union,  New  York’s 
great  promoter  of  popular  education,  is  one  of  the 
centres  for  the  work  of  the  Board  of  Education,  but  it 
has  in  addition  courses  of  lectures  under  its  own 
control  and  others  which  are  given  in  cooperation  with 
the  People’s  Institute.  In  the  winter  of  1899-1900, 
the  People’s  Institute  gave  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
tliree  lectures  there.  The  plan  of  each  evening  in- 
cluded an  address,  lasting  about  an  hour  and  followed 
by  a discussion.  The  audiences  were  largely  composed 
of  woi’kingmen  from  different  sections,  who  took  part 
freely  in  the  discussions.  Receptions  held  after  the 
lectures  in  the  room  of  the  People’s  Club  gave  the 
members  and  their  invited  guests  a chance  to  meet 
many  of  the  leaders  in  public  life.  The  Educational 
Alliance  of  New  York  offers  lectures  to  its  members. 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


109 


The  Wagner  Institute  of  Philadelphia  gives  courses 
of  free  lectures,  with  an  opportunity  for  those  who  are 
especially  interested  to  stay  afterwards  for  class-work 
and  experiments  in  the  laboratories.  This  work  of  the 
institute  has  been  constantly  growing  in  importance, 
and  it  has  the  encouragement  of  reaching  the  class  of 
jDeople  that  need  such  opportunities.  Free  lectures  are 
also  given  by  various  societies  that  wish  to  interest 
the  public  in  live  questions.  The  Library  of  Economics 
and  Political  Science  makes  a point  of  keeping  the 
circulars  of  such  lectures  and  calling  the  attention  of 
the  frequenters  of  the  library  to  them.  Here  again  is 
shown  the  value  of  cooperation  between  the  free  lecture 
and  the  public  library.  The  plan  just  mentioned  is  an 
excellent  way  of  turning  the  attention  of  a part  of  the 
public  to  the  lecture  halls  which  have  opened  their 
doors  to  them.  But  this  somewhat  mechanical  con- 
nection is  not  the  most  vital  one.  The  lecturer  will 
send  back  to  the  library  much  more  intelligent  readers. 
He  can  make  the  man  who  has  never  read  anything 
“ worth  while  ” have  a real  yearning  for  histories, 
biographies,  and  other  literature  that  will  be  of  benefit 
to  him,  and  he  can  make  the  man  who  never  reads 
anything  feel  the  need  of  a book.  A generous  supply 
of  platform  and  branch  libraries  should  be  at  the  lec- 
turer’s disposal.  Some  libraries  give  public  lectures 
in  their  own  halls,  and  the  full  attendance  and  conse- 
quent carrying  away  of  books  prove  the  worth  of  this 
use  of  the  building.  The  Boston  Public  Library,  dur- 
ing the  season  of  1900-1901,  gave  free  lectures  on 
municipal  problems. 

A word  might  be  said  of  the  financial  conditions  of 


110 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


public  lecture  organizations.  While  leading  men  in 
every  profession  are  taking  part  in  this  work,  and  many 
of  them  without  even  a nominal  fee,  there  are  many 
whose  incomes  do  not  allow  the  time  thus  spent  to  be 
w'holly  unremunerative.  It  is  one  of  the  wisest  features 
of  the  scheme  that  the  teaching  be  the  best,  and  that 
the  work  in  each  centre  be  continuous.  The  work  can- 
not be  self-supporting,  but  it  is  one  of  the  most  judi- 
cious of  the  civic  investments  of  the  tax-payer.  It  is  an 
unfortunate  thing  that  a “ popular  lecture  ” means  to 
some  people  simply  a pleasing  lecture,  for  often  it 
implies  more.  The  popular  lecture  with  educational 
aim  must  hold  that  idea  uppermost,  and  be  pleasing 
because  the  skillful  lecturer  so  presents  his  serious 
material  that  the  audience  is  able  thoroughly  to  enjoy 
it.  The  free  lecture,  then,  is  a system  of  education 
that  can  be  popular.  Besides  the  instructional  value  of 
these  lectures,  the  hours  so  spent  are  glad  ones  for 
thousands  of  toilers  and  an  antidote  for  many  of  the 
temptations  of  city  life.  The  subject  can  be  chosen  to 
suit  each  audience,  the  lecture  can  be  taken  to  the 
people,  and  the  man  or  woman  who  delivers  it  shows  by 
his  being  there  that  he  has  the  desire,  which  every 
educated  person  ought  to  have,  to  share  his  knowledge 
with  the  less  fortunate.  However,  in  most  cities  the 
law  enforces  no  such  system,  the  people  do  not  demand 
it,  and  it  is  left  for  philanthropy  to  evolve  it.  Much 
progress  has  been  made  in  this  work,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  many  cities  have  to  acknowledge  that,  in  view  of 
their  small  number  and  their  irregularity,  the  influence 
of  the  free  lectures  as  a corrective  to  the  saloon,  at  anj" 
rate,  is  not  great.  Where  they  are  frequent  and  the 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


Ill 


courses  are  regular,  their  efficiency  as  saloon  substi- 
tutes is  twofold  : many  pleasant  evenings  are  spent  in 
this  way  which  would  otherwise  be  added  to  the  number 
which  the  wage-earner  does  not  know  how  to  sjjend, 
and  thousands  of  men  are  given  a live  interest  in  some 
broadening  and  helpful  theme. 

Because  the  library  is  most  effective  when  working 
in  cooperation  with  other  educative  organizations,  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  alone  it  stands  as  a great 
schoolmaster  for  the  people.  No  town  is  considered 
complete  without  its  public  library,  and  the  rich  and 
poor,  educated  and  uneducated,  point  to  it  with  pride. 
The  library  supjdies  the  public  with  its  reading  mate- 
rial, and  the  public  appreciates  the  fact,  whether  taking 
advantage  of  it  or  not.  A sightly,  well-constructed 
building  which  belongs  to  the  people  and  which  exists 
for  their  good  is  in  itself  something  of  an  inspiration. 
And  it  is  the  library  that  supplies  the  homes  with 
books.  In  mission  centres,  after  the  demand  for  food 
and  clothing,  the  request  for  reading  matter  is  most 
frequent.  “ Lend  me  some  books  or  magazines  so  that 
my  husband  or  son  may  have  something  to  read 
and  to  occupy  his  mind  without  having  to  go  to  the 
saloon,”  is  the  form  the  request  takes.  In  this  respect, 
the  libraries  as  saloon  substitutes  have  great  value,  for 
they  can  furnish  books  to  the  people  in  abundance  and 
without  cost.  Every  one  knows  that  a public  library 
is  not  enough.  It  must  be  a free  public  library. 
Moreover  it  should  be  made  easy  for  the  people  to 
get  their  register  cards.  Often  a stranger  in  a town 
and  too  often  residents  of  the  poorer  classes  do  not 


112 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


know  whom  to  ask  for  a guarantee.  This  is  one  of 
the  kindnesses  an  employer  may  well  offer  his  em- 
ployees. 

Free  registration  is  not  enough.  The  libraries  must 
he  planned  to  facilitate  the  use  of  books,  and  there  are 
a number  of  practical  ways  of  doing  it : by  work- 
ing in  cooperation  with  other  educational  centres ; 
by  branch  libraries  ; by  traveling  libraries  ; by  access 
to  shelves.  One  means  of  cooperation  is  to  receive 
from  teachers  and  lecturers  lists  of  books  that  will 
likely  be  in  demand,  and  to  have  enough  copies  to 
prevent  discouragement  being  a reason  for  not  read- 
ing. 

Branch  libraries  no  doubt  accomplish  more  as  saloon 
substitutes  than  the  main  libraries.  The  busy  laborer 
is  the  very  one  whom  cheap  rent  takes  from  the  centre 
of  things,  and  branch  libi’aries  should  be  established 
for  his  benefit.  In  almost  every  large  city  the  free 
library  has  its  branches.  Private  or  semi-private 
libraries  may  well  be  affiliated  with  these.  They 
should  always  contain  reference  books,  carefully  se- 
lected fiction,  books  of  travel,  biography,  and  history. 
Neis’hborhood  workers  who  know  the  habits  and 
tastes  of  the  people  of  their  communities  can  often 
best  choose  the  books,  and  the  librarians  of  the  main 
buildmgs  gladly  receive  their  suggestions.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  see  how  many  apply  for  cards  who  would 
have  neither  time  nor  inclination  to  frequent  the  cen- 
tral library.  A library  of  eight  hundred  books  was 
recently  placed  in  a small  manufacturing  city  a mile 
from  the  main  library,  and  in  the  sixth  month  of  its 
existence  over  three  hundred  books  were  taken  out. 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


113 


The  shelves  were  against  the  back  wall  of  a grocery 
store,  and  the  keeper  said  he  would  not  exchange  what 
he  had  “ learned  from  them  books  ” for  all  the  trade 
he  had  done.  It  was  reported,  in  1898,  of  the  Webster 
Circulating  Library  of  New  York  (a  department  of 
the  work  at  the  East  Side  House),  that  the  number  of 
names  on  the  registry  exceeded  the  number  of  volumes 
in  the  library,  the  former  being  8157,  the  latter  7858. 
The  park  libraries  of  Brooklyn  have  proved  very  suc- 
cessful ; and  while  there  is  much  to  say  against  filling 
the  parks  up  with  buildings  of  any  kind,  their  reports 
seem  to  justify  them.  The  statistics  of  the  Tomp- 
kins Park  Library  for  one  month  give  2372  borrow- 
ers, 4190  books  circulated,  and  2900  readers.  By 
“ readers  ” is  meant  those  who  do  not  take  books  out, 
but  read  papers  and  magazines  in  the  library. 

Traveling  libraries  have  an  aim  very  similar  to  that 
of  the  more  stationary  branches.  Many  settlements 
and  clubs  need  more  books  than  they  can  afPord  to 
buy ; and  to  have  several  hundred  books  loaned  them 
for  a few  weeks,  with  a new  set  taking  their  places, 
helps  them  to  solve  this  difficulty.  It  has  proved  a 
successful  enterprise  to  send  these  libraries  to  fire- 
engine  stations  and  police  stations,  where  the  men 
have  leisure  and  yet  must  be  at  their  posts.  The  boys 
of  the  telegraph  and  messenger  service  need  to  be 
supplied  with  books.  Factories  and  manufacturing 
districts  are  incomplete  without  their  libraries.  A 
reading-room  is  often  the  only  place  beside  the  saloon 
near  the  docks  for  sailors  who  are  in  port.  The  Pub- 
lic Library  of  Cleveland  reports  that  in  1899  the  cir- 
culation from  the  branches  and  stations  for  home  read- 


114 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


ing  was  fifty-seven  per  cent  of  the  entire  circulation 
for  the  year.  “ The  aim  is  to  make  the  branches  and 
stations  social  centres  for  their  neighborhoods.  In 
bringing  this  about  the  library  management  is  work- 
ing in  and  through  the  schools  and  settlements.” 

In  all  libraries,  including  the  main  one,  access  to 
the  shelves  is  of  great  importance.  “ Access  to  the 
shelves  means  that  any  one  can  go  to  the  shelves  and 
take  down  the  hooks  to  read,  or  select  the  books  he  de- 
sires to  carry  away.  As  a result  time  is  not  lost  in 
waiting,  and  where  a person  is  familiar  with  only 
one  or  two  books  on  a subject,  the  fact  that  these 
books  are  out  does  not  discourage  him.  In  looking 
over  the  books  themselves  — not  lists  of  books  — he 
may  find  something  better.  Probably  interest  will 
be  stimulated.  The  rooms  are  made  more  attractive 
with  their  open  shelves,  and  the  lack  of  police  system 
makes  the  library  a pleasanter  place.”  The  very 
large  circulation  of  the  Free  Library  of  Philadelphia 
is  ascribed  to  this  free-shelf  system.  It  is  reported 
that  the  consequent  loss  of  books  is  very  slight  in  com- 
parison with  the  cost  of  employing  extra  service.  It 
is  an  interesting  fact  that  if  children  are  allowed  to  go 
to  the  shelves,  they  usually  select  non-fiction. 

The  reading-room  and  circulating  library  are  so 
united  in  aim  and  fulfillment,  that  their  separation 
is  arbitrary,  and  yet  each  has  an  advantage  over  the 
other.  The  circulating  library  furnishes  a pleasant 
and  helpful  pastime  for  the  man’s  leisure  hours  and 
encourages  him  to  spend  them  at  home,  while  the 
reading-room  gives  him  a valuable  resort  outside  of 
his  home.  This  fact  makes  the  reading-room  perhaps 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


115 


the  more  efficient  substitute  for  the  saloon.  It  is  en- 
couraging that  the  reading-room  not  only  promises  to 
be,  but  is  a place  where  men  come  and  spend  time 
that  would  otherwise  be  spent  in  the  saloon  or  on  the 
street.  It  is  true  that  a goodly  per  cent  of  the  patrons 
are  children  and  people  of  the  well-to-do  classes,  but 
there  is  constant  increase  in  the  number  of  adult  read- 
ers, and  there  are  many  reading-rooms  for  the  laboring 
people  of  which  the  rich  know  nothing. 

The  free  library  and  reading-room  of  Cooper  Union 
represents  a type  worthy  of  study.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  a few  who  come  from  a distance,  for  the  sake 
of  class-work,  the  attendance  is  chiefly  from  the  sur- 
rounding wards,  %.  e.,  the  Tenth,  Eleventh,  Thirteenth, 
Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  and  Seventeenth.  The  follow- 
ing table  shows  the  predominating  nationality  and  pop- 


ulation : — 

10th  Wai’d  . . Russian  Hebrews 74,401 

11th  Ward  . . Germans  and  Hungai’ians  . . 97,435 

13th  Ward  . • Hebrews  and  Irish  ....  59,267 

14th  Ward  . . Italians 36,292 

15  th  Ward  . . Italians 32,811 

17th  Ward  . . Germans 133,257 


433,463 

These  statistics  are  as  reported  for  the  Tenement  House 
Committee  in  1894. 

The  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  Seventeenth,  and  Bowery 
portions  of  the  Tenth  are  probably  the  only  wards  which 
are  strongly  represented,  and  this  means  a population 
of  about  202,360.  The  Bowery  lodging-houses  are 
within  walking  distance,  and  no  doubt  many  men  come 


116 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


to  the  reading-room  from  these.  The  following  is  the 
record  of  attendance  for  1898  : — 


January  . 

72,977 

July  . . . . 

23,380 

February  . 

66,670 

August  (2  wks.) 

12,805 

March  . . 

55,531 

September 

29,956 

April  . . 

53,614 

October  . . . 

45,669 

May  . 

32,799 

November 

56,237 

June  . 

27,348 

December  . . 

69,438 

Total  .... 

546,424 

This  means  an  average  daily  attendance  of  1821.  The 
reading-room  has  met  with  this  success  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  it  is  on  the  third  floor.  Including 
newspapers  there  are  about  four  hundred  and  fifty 
periodicals  on  file,  and  the  library  contains  between 
thirty-five  and  forty  thousand  volumes.  A large 
proportion  of  the  visitors  come  to  take  advantage  of 
the  daily  papers,  and  it  is  evident  that  to  read  their 
home  papers  is  really  a boon  to  many  men.  This 
satisfaction  of  the  thirst  for  home  news  is  in  itself  a 
larsre  reason  for  such  reading-rooms.  There  are  him- 
dreds  of  men  who  will  pass  open  saloons  and  walk 
many  blocks  for  the  sake  of  reading  a few'  items  in 
the  home,  paper  that  will  lessen  their  feeling  of  lone- 
liness in  a great  city  wdiere  they  have  no  social  con- 
nection. 

Other  free  reading-rooms  in  crowded  districts  have 
met  with  proportionate  success.  This  is  one  of  the  priv- 
ileges the  workingman  does  demand  and  appreciate. 
The  circulation  of  the  settlement  libraries  is  so  phenom- 
enal, as  compared  w'ith  ordinary  libraries,  that  it  war- 
rants careful  attention.  Statistics  show  that  almost 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


117 


without  exception  the  well-ordered  reading-room  soon 
becomes  a popular  centre.  Often  it  is  a question  how 
to  meet  the  demand  for  certain  literature,  and  how  to 
furnish  sufficient  table  room.  The  point  most  to  be 
emphasized  is  the  necessity  of  accessibility.  No  saloon- 
keeper places  his  wares  in  the  back  room  on  the  second 
floor.  A well-lighted  front  entrance  on  an  open  thor- 
oughfare, comfortable  seats,  and  tables  well  supplied 
with  reading  matter,  chosen  to  hold  the  interest  of  the 
patrons,  will  accomplish  more  in  the  work  of  making 
the  reading-room  a substitute  for  the  saloon  than  rows 
upon  rows  of  well-arranged  bookshelves.  If  possible, 
a reading-room  should  be  large,  so  that  a man  may  slip 
in  and  out  without  feeling  conspicuous  and,  if  he  pre- 
fers, not  be  submitted  to  unsolicited  social  advances. 

The  combination  of  reading-room  and  smoking-room 
is  one  much  to  be  desired.  A successful  example  of 
this  is  found  in  the  Galilee  Mission,  New  York  (Cal- 
vary Protestant  Episcopal  Church).  The  free  and 
easy  air  of  such  a place  gives  it  one  of  the  most  tell- 
ing characteristics  of  the  saloon.  It  is  open  every 
night  in  the  year,  and  on  Sunday  afternoons  and  holi- 
days. During  eleven  months  of  1898,  there  were  27,310 
visits  made  by  persons  enjoying  its  privileges,  and  of 
this  number  10,729  were  Sunday  visits.  The  daily  and 
weekly  papers,  as  well  as  the  monthly  magazines,  are 
on  the  tables,  also  a number  of  standard  books.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  mouths,  talks  are  given  Sunday  after- 
noons on  various  subjects. 

Probably  of  all  the  social  enterprises  of  the  city  of 
Denver,  none  have  been  so  completely  successful  in 
drawing  trade  away  from  the  saloon  as  the  reading- 


118 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


room.  No  better  evidence  of  this  fact  can  be  given 
than  the  results  of  the  establishment  of  the  two  read- 
ing-rooms in  the  Fifteenth  Ward.^ 

Some  six  or  seven  years  ago,  the  street  railway  com- 
pany built  a large  car-barn  in  the  Fifteenth  Ward.  As 
there  were  usually  a large  number  of  the  employees  of 
the  company  in  and  about  the  barn,  the  liquor  men, 
always  alert  for  such  an  opportunity,  lost  no  time  in 
locating  two  saloons  and  a pool-room  in  the  non-prohi- 
bition Sixth  Ward,  just  across  the  street.  Their  exjjec- 
tations  of  a large  trade  were  fully  realized.  The  car- 
barns were  cheerless  and  cold,  and  little  provision  had 
been  made  for  the  comfort  of  the  men ; the  saloons,  on 
the  other  hand,  offered  warmth  and  sociability.  Natu- 
rally the  saloons  came  to  be  preferred,  and  soon  were  a 
sort  of  headquarters  for  the  emjdoyees  wdien  off  duty. 
The  inevitable  results  followed,  and  complaints  were 
common  regarding  the  lawlessness  of  the  neighborhood. 
The  tramway  company  tried  in  vain  to  check  the 
growing  evil  by  means  of  stringent  rules  against  drink- 
ing among  their  employees,  but  the  attendance  upon 
the  saloons  was  not  perceptibly  diminished.  . . . The 
once  respectable  neighborhood  soon  acquired  an  evil 
reputation.  In  1896  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union  applied  to  the  superintendent  of  the  tram- 
way company  for  a room  in  the  car-barn,  in  which  to 
establish  a reading-room ; this  the  superintendent  gladly 
furnished  them,  free  of  charge.  The  first  results  were 
most  discouraging.  The  attendance  of  the  young  men 
of  the  neighborhood,  and  of  the  emploj^ees  of  the  com- 
pany, those  who  were  patronizing  the  saloon,  and  whom 
1 From  the  Denver  report,  April,  1899. 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


119 


it  was  desired  especially  to  reach,  was  very  small ; and 
whenever  they  did  come,  they  violated  the  rules  in 
the  most  open  and  flagrant  way,  without  paying  any 
attention  to  remonstrance.  The  boys  were  often  rude 
and  boisterous.  Books  and  papers  and  even  money 
were  stolen  frequently.  In  spite  of  all  these  obstacles 
and  the  lively  opposition  of  the  saloon-keepers,  the 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  persisted  in 
their  efforts,  and  as  time  went  on,  the  conditions  be- 
came better,  and  gradually  things  began  to  come  their 
way.  At  the  present  time,  one  of  the  two  saloons  has 
gone  out  of  business,  and  the  other  has  scarcely  half 
the  patronage  that  it  once  had.  The  majority  of  the 
tramway  employees  spend  the  most  of  their  spare  time 
in  the  reading-room  ; while  the  “ gang  ” that  once  ter- 
rorized the  neighborhood  has  melted  away,  and  the 
boys  and  young  men  that  formerly  composed  it  are 
nightly  frequenters  of  the  reading-room,  and  are  quiet 
and  weU-behaved.  A violation  of  the  rules  is  rare,  as 
is  also  the  loss  of  anything  through  theft.  The  credit 
of  this  improvement  belongs  principally  to  the  reading- 
room. 

It  is  said  of  the  Southwest  of  the  country,  as  of  other 
parts,  that  the  saloon  is  the  greatest  evil,  the  greatest 
because  it  leads  to  other  vices.  It  stands  with  open 
doors  ready  to  receive  the  young  men  who  go  there, 
leaving  the  home  and  social  influences  of  the  East. 
There,  too,  the  free  library  is  doing  its  work.  In 
Bisbee,  Ariz.,  a mining  centre,  the  Copper  Queen 
Consolidated  Mining  Company  put  up  a commodious 
building,  and  furnished  it  with  books,  newspapers, 
magazines,  tables,  chairs,  and  pictures.  It  is  well 


120 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


patronized,  and  in  the  case  of  a large  number  of  the 
miners  and  railroad  operatives  it  is  a very  successful 
rival  of  the  saloon.  The  plan  is  to  keep  open  doors 
and  have  as  few  restrictions  on  the  men  as  possible. 
They  may  conduct  themselves  in  the  library  as  freely 
as  in  any  saloon,  barring  the  drinking  and  the  gam- 
bling. There  are  chess,  draughts,  and  checkers.  There 
is  opportunity  for  talking  and  smoking.  This  freedom 
secures  the  attendance  of  many  who  would  otherwise 
be  patrons  of  the  saloon.  Mr.  Pritchard,  who  is  in 
charge,  has  opportunity  to  come  in  close  contact  with 
the  men  and  to  talk  with  them  of  their  own  affairs. 
It  has  been  possible  to  interest  many  of  them  in  the 
contention  against  the  saloon,  and  a few  have  shown 
a desire  to  aid  in  the  work.  The  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  mining  company  are  directly  responsible  for  the 
fact  that  the  saloon  is  not  a paying  business,  and  that 
gamblers  call  it  the  poorest  town  in  Arizona  for  their 
profession.  In  Tucson,  the  Southern  Pacific  men  are 
all  contributing  fifty  cents  per  month  for  a similar 
institution,  and  have  in  connection  with  it  free  baths 
and  other  attractions. 

When  the  night  school,  the  lecture  hall  and  the 
library  are  open  to  the  people,  there  is  still  much  to 
be  done.  There  is  no  way  so  sure  to  arouse  intel- 
lectual interest  as  personal  inspiration.  The  greatest 
problem  in  popular  education  is  not  to  furnish  the 
supply,  but  to  create  a demand.  Even  the  reading- 
room  is  not  always  a success.  The  manager  of  the 
Chesapeake  Pottery  Factory  of  Baltimore  failed  to 
interest  the  young  men  in  his  employ  in  a reading- 
room.  The  Woodberry  Free  Reading-Room,  primarily 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


121 


intended  for  laborers,  especially  for  the  men  of  Wood- 
berry  mills,  and  provided  apparently  with  all  the 
essentials  of  success,  drew  mostly  people  from  the 
wealthy  siiburbs  of  Baltimore. 

In  the  education  of  the  working  people  some  con- 
cessions must  be  made.  The  situation  makes  it  neces- 
sary to  do  away  with  many  of  the  traditions  of  schools 
and  colleges.  Institutions  of  learning,  like  Cooper 
Union,  the  People’s  Institute  and  the  Educational  Alli- 
ance of  New  York,  Temple  College  and  the  Franklin 
Institute  of  Philadelphia,  Ohio  Mechanics’  Institute  of 
Cincinnati,  Trade  Schools,  and  the  Prospect  Union  of 
Harvard,  are  successful  because  of  their  method,  and 
because  of  their  curricula.  They  offer  classes  which 
are  of  j)ractical  benefit  to  the  wage-earner.  It  has 
been  said  of  Cooper  Union,  “ There  is  no  institution 
similar  to  Cooper  Union,  placed  in  so  excellent  a loca- 
tion, or  which  approaches  it  in  its  clientage  of  those 
not  interested  in  the  educational.”  Last  year,  at  the 
People’s  Institute,  classes  were  held  in  history,  litera- 
ture, ethics  and  sociology,  and  often  there  was  not 
even  standing  room  in  a hall  which  would  seat  two 
hundred  and  fifty.  In  the  Mechanics’  Institute  of 
Cincinnati,  of  four  hundred  and  sixteen  students,  one 
hundred  and  forty-four  are  machinists.  No  doubt 
many  of  them  are  too  much  interested  in  their  trades 
to  waste  time  in  saloons,  and  yet  with  too  few  re- 
sources for  leisure  hours,  the  strongest  may  be  tempted. 

The  Prospect  Union  ^ of  Cambridge  is  in  a no- 
license city,  but  there  has  been  a measure  of  compe- 
tition with  the  temjstation  to  patronize  Boston  saloons, 
^ From  report  of  Rev.  Robert  E.  Ely. 


122 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


and  with  the  tendency  to  form  social  and  athletic  clubs 
of  doubtful  moral  tone.  Moreover,  the  influence  of 
the  Union  has  inclined  men  to  vote  for  no-license, 
although  the  organization,  in  accordance  with  its  prin- 
ciples, has  abstained  from  taking  part  in  the  no-license 
campaigns.  The  Union  is  a partial  and  local  adapta- 
tion of  the  social  settlement  and  university  extension 
idea.  The  men,  whether  wage-earners  or  Harvard  stu- 
dents, meet  upon  the  level  of  a common  manhood  for 
mutual  helpfulness,  without  regard  to  differences  of 
caste  or  creed.  The  fee  for  active  members  is  two 
dollars.  Evening  classes  and  lectures  constitute  the 
principal  activity  of  the  Union,  with  frequent  musical 
and  social  gatherings.  The  classes  are  small,  the 
method  of  teaching  is  informal,  and  the  effort  is  made 
to  adapt  the  instruction  to  the  desii-e  and  need  of  the 
individual  pupil.  The  classes  are  conducted  by  Har- 
vard students,  and  often  on  M^ednesday  evening  there 
is  a lectui'e  or  address  by  a member  of  the  Harvard 
faculty  or  by  some  reformer.  An  opportunity  for 
questions  and  discussions  always  follows  the  lecture. 
In  the  building,  which  is  open  eveiy  day  and  evening 
of  the  year,  are  a reading-room,  smoking-room,  library, 
and  shower  baths  for  the  use  of  members,  class-rooms, 
a lecture  hall,  and  rooms  for  residence.  Such  a work 
as  this  awakens  new  interests,  leads  to  new  activities, 
and  gives  a broader  outlook  upon  life.  Catholics  and 
Protestants,  foreigners  and  Americans,  come  together 
in  such  an  enterprise.  Thei'e  is  not  the  suspicion  that 
often  attaches  to  a denominational  organization,  and 
men  are  not  ashamed  to  be  found  in  an  educational 
institution. 


POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


123 


Industrial  schools  are  needed.  They  are  a neces- 
sity for  both  boys  and  men.  The  school  that  offers 
classes  in  plastering,  blacksmith’s  work  and  bricklay- 
ing, will  not  be  empty.  The  economic  progress  in 
Germany  is  conceded  to  be  due  to  the  industrial  school 
system.  True  charity  is  kindred  to  education.  Imme- 
diate relief  is  often  necessary,  hut  if,  in  connection 
with  our  charity  organizations,  there  could  be  training 
schools  in  which  people  might  be  helped  back  into 
lives  of  useful  and  self-restraining  activity,  it  would 
keep  many  whom  the  saloon  reduces  to  pauperism 
from  returning  to  it.  The  St.  Louis  Provident  Asso- 
ciation and  the  Philadelphia  Society  for  Employment 
and  Instruction  of  the  Poor  try  to  do  something  of 
the  kind,  but  the  classes  are  largely  for  women.  How- 
ever, we  must  not  overlook  the  fact  that  philanthropic 
work  among  women  is  often  counting  indirectly  against 
the  saloon.  The  mothei-s’  meetings,  the  domestic  science 
classes  and  cooking  lessons,  that  teach  women  how  to 
make  the  home  attractive,  are  doing  much  to  keep  men 
from  the  saloons. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  aesthetic  side  of  the  people’s 
education  must  not  be  undervalued.  Their  eyes  need 
to  be  opened  that  they  may  see,  quite  as  much  as  their 
hands  need  to  be  trained  that  they  may  handle.  The 
poor  are  removed  from  the  rich ; they  live  away  from 
the  most  attractive  part  of  the  cities,  and  what  is  there 
to  cultivate  their  taste  for  art,  to  take  them  to  the 
galleries  and  museums  ? The  loaning  of  pictures  from 
art  galleries  and  schools  is  an  excellent  plan.  Local 
exhibits  and  excursions  to  places  of  beauty  and  interest 
may  well  be  encouraged.  Akin  to  this  idea  is  Mr. 


124  ■ SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 

Frank  Damrosch’s  work  in  New  York.  The  object  of 
the  People’s  Choral  Union  is  to  cultivate  the  love  of 
music  among  the  working  people.  Any  one  who  has 
been  a member  of  the  advanced  class  of  the  People’s 
Singing  Classes  for  .one  season  is  eligible  to  member- 
ship. The  classes  are  established  and  maintained  by 
the  Union.  Ten  cents  a lesson  meets  the  incidental 
expenses,  and  no  teacher  receives  compensation  for  his 
services.  Mr.  Damrosch  believes  that  “art  is  not  a 
luxury  for  the  rich,  but  a necessity  for  the  poor,  and 
that  all  people  can  learn  to  sing.”  “ The  one  form  of 
art  which  comes  nearest  to  the  people’s  hearts,  which 
may  be  acquired  and  practiced  by  nearly  every  one, 
and  could  therefore  enter  into  the  daily  life  of  the 
people,  making  it  brighter,  sweeter,  happier  and  richer, 
the  State  makes  little  or  no  provision  for,  and  it  was  to 
fill  this  need  that  the  People’s  Singing  Classes  were 
established.”  The  success  of  the  undertaking  has  been 
beyond  the  highest  expectations.  It  is  such  a reali- 
zation of  the  working  people’s  needs  and  such  a desire 
to  make  them  share  the  more  ennobling  things  in  life 
that  will  succeed  in  educating  and  uplifting  them. 

When  a man  sees  outside  of  the  saloon  what  is  more 
attractive  than  what  he  finds  in  it,  he  will  cease  to  be 
its  patron.  The  closing  century  has  been  called  the 
century  of  popular  education,  and  it  could  ask  no  better 
title.  Its  lesson  may  well  be  that  a “ man  needs  know- 
ledge, not  as  a means  of  livelihood,  but  as  a means  of 
life.” 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  MISSION,  AND  THE  SETTLEMENT. 

This  chapter  is  to  deal  with  methods  of  making 
provision  for  the  social  needs  of  the  people  that  are 
prompted  by  the  religious  motive.  This  is  not  wholly 
true  of  the  settlement,  which  is  discussed  by  itself  at 
the  close  of  the  chapter. 

Religion  is  concerned  with  the  personal  relation  of 
the  individual  life  toward  God.  To  create  and  to 
strengthen  this  relation  is  the  one  purpose  of  avowedly 
religious  institutions.  A generation  ago  the  term  life 
was  considered  synonymous  with  soul.  To-day,  the 
unity  of  life  is  recognized  as  it  was  by  Christ ; and  the 
church,  like  its  Master,  seeks  not  only  to  pronounce  the 
word  of  pardon,  but  to  heal  the  sick,  to  open  the  eyes 
of  the  blind  and  the  ears  of  the  deaf.  It  seeks  not  so 
much  to  save  men  out  of  the  world,  as  to  save  the 
world  itself  in  all  of  its  relations. 

This  is  the  real  change  which  has  taken  place  in  our 
day  within  the  church.  It  has  not  been  a change  in 
doctrine  or  in  worship,  but  a change  in  its  relation  to 
the  world.  To  it  may  be  attributed  the  growing  au- 
thority and  influence  of  the  church  in  our  complex 
modern  social  order.  Even  where  little  effort  has  been 
made  to  express  this  sentiment  in  tangible  terms,  the 
sentiment  abides.  The  church  has  come  to  believe  that 
if  it  does  not  interest  itself  with  what  concerns  human- 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


1^'6 

ity,  it  cannot  hope  that  humanity  will  interest  itself 
with  what  concerns  the  church.  There  is  every  reason 
for  believing  that  we  have  seen  the  extreme  limit  of  the 
alienation  of  the  “ masses  ” from  the  church  ; that  the 
return  of  the  church  to  humanity  means  at  the  same 
time  the  return  of  humanity  to  the  church.  Dr.  Hale, 
when  asked  recently  to  forecast  what  he  believed  would 
be  the  character  of  the  church  of  the  tv^entietb  cen- 
tury, replied  : “ I once  heard  a well-informed  clergy- 
man . . . say  of  our  New  England  churches  of  all 
communions  that  they  are  quite  well  organized  for  pur- 
poses of  worship,  that  they  do  something  on  Sunday 
for  education,  that  they  are  interested  to  a certain  ex- 
tent in  hospitality,  but  that  they  are  not  at  all  well 
organized  for  charity.  I think  that  fifty  years  hence 
the  same  sort  of  people  who  are  now  glad  to  live  within 
the  range  of  the  charities  of  a well-conducted  hotel  will 
be  glad  to  live  in  the  neighborhood  of  a church.  I 
think  that  every  church  will  understand  the  best  way 
to  proclaim  the  good  tidings  of  God  to  those  who  need 
them.” 

This  it  is  which  the  churcb  is  beginning  to  learn. 
No  one  can  have  failed  to  observe  the  gradual  evolu- 
tion of  new  methods  in  church  work,  new  efforts  to 
apply  material  wealth  and  personal  power  to  the  actual 
needs  of  men  and  women.  Year  by  year  the  number 
of  churches  which  still  hold  themselves  aloof  from  the 
tempoi’al  concerns  of  the  people  is  being  lessened.  In 
city  and  in  country  alike,  in  despite  of  tradition  or  con- 
vention, under  the  leadership  of  thoughtful  and  far- 
seeing  men  and  women,  the  church  is  meeting  in  many 
ways  the  immediate  needs  of  those  who  surround  it. 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  127 


Parish  houses  and  settlements,  libraries  and  kindergar- 
tens, clubs  and  training  schools,  all  speak  of  the  new 
spirit  which  animates  the  modern  church.  The  old 
power  is  not  lost : it  is  directed  and  applied. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  seemed  to  rely 
almost  wholly  upon  the  spiritual  appeal.  Yet  she  is 
not  indifferent  to  modern  conditions  and  is  preparing 
to  meet  them.  Her  organizations  are  taking  on  more 
and  more  a social  character.  The  Total  Abstinence 
societies  have  often  a considerable  social  element  in 
connection  with  their  work;  some  own  their  buildings, 
which  are  provided  with  reading-rooms,  gymnasiums, 
and  billiard  halls.  Such  societies  may  be  found  at  pre- 
sent in  almost  all  of  the  large  cities  of  the  country. 
The  lyceum  is  growing  to  be  a very  popular  organiza- 
tion connected  with  Catholic  parishes  in  workingmen’s 
districts.  In  the  city  of  Baltimore,  lyceums  were  found 
to  be  connected  with  no  less  than  eight  of  the  Catholic 
parishes  of  the  city.  The  method  is  usually  to  occupy 
some  building  which  is  fitted  up  with  means  for  social 
and  athletic  enjoyment.  The  three  requirements  for 
membership  in  a lyceum  is  that  a man  be  a good  Cath- 
olic, be  of  good  moral  character,  and  have  some  desire 
to  improve  himself.  As  a rule,  these  lyceums  are  re- 
markably successful,  and  their  membershi23  aggregates 
many  thousands  in  any  city.  Another  social  organiza- 
tion has  just  been  planned  by  the  Catholics,  the  Young 
Men’s  Institute,  patterned  after  the  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association.  In  these  ways  the  attitude  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Cluirch  is  plainly  visible. 

More  Protestant  churches  than  Catholic  conduct 
what  are  known  as  “ institutional  ” activities,  and  yet  the 


128 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


number  is  small  compared  witb  the  total  number  of 
cburcbes  and  the  need  which  confronts  them.  In  Cleve- 
land only  two  or  three  churches  out  of  about  two  hun- 
dred are  I’eported  as  undertaking  at  all  seriously  any 
social  work.  Out  of  twenty-three  Baptist  churches  in 
Cincinnati  and  vicinity,  twenty-one  follow  the  old 
methods  of  work.  A crowded  district  in  Buffalo  has  a 
population  of  55,000.  Of  the  forty  Protestant  churches 
and  missions,  but  one  has  a night  school,  and  only  two 
offer  weekly  attractions  to  the  neighborhood.  In  Chi- 
cago a very  careful  canvass  was  made,  and  a personal 
letter  was  sent  to  751  clergymen.  The  results  are  as  fol- 
lows : Six  wrote  absolutely  disajjproving  of  the  chui'ch 
engaging  in  any  social  work,  quoting  Scripture  pas- 
sages in  support  of  their  position.  Those  who  hoped 
to  enter  such  work  were  seventeen.  Fiftj'-four 
churches  had  no  further  social  organization  beyond  lit- 
erary and  religious  societies.  Eighteen  had  outdoor 
sports,  six  had  gymnasiums,  but  the  silence  of  over  five 
hundred  indicates  inactivity  due  either  to  ojjpositiou  or 
to  sympathy  that  has  not  yet  sufficient  energy  to  take 
tangible  form.  West  of  the  Mississippi,  the  propor- 
tion of  churches  doing  any  social  work  is  even  less  than 
in  the  East.  In  New  York  City  ninety-two  churches 
out  of  a total  of  about  seven  hundred.  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  were  reported  as  doing  a real  social  woi-k. 
An  analyzed  list  reveals  the  following  particulars  : — 


1.  Having  clubs 9 

2.  Having  clubs,  reading-rooms,  and  lodging-houses  . . 2 

3.  Having  libraries  or  reading-rooms 9 

4.  Having  industrial  training  and  other  educational 

features 15 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  129 


6.  Having  clubs  and  gymnasium 1 

6.  Having  clubs  and  reading-rooms 2 

7.  Having  clubs  and  educational  features 24 

8.  Having  clubs,  educational  features,  and  gymnasium  . 2 

9.  Having  clubs,  gymnasium,  and  reading-rooms  . . . 1 

10.  Having  clubs,  reading-rooms,  and  educational  fea- 

tures   7 

11.  Having  gymnasium  and  educational  features  ...  2 

12.  Having  educational  features  and  reading-rooms  . . 4 

13.  Having  all  of  above-mentioned  features  excepting 

lodging-houses 14 


92 


The  parish  house  is  the  centre  of  the  social  life  of 
the  modern  church.  Upon  the  size  and  material  re- 
sources of  the  church  will  depend  somewhat  the  amount 
of  social  work  undertaken.  The  parish  house  is  the 
home  of  kindergartens,  cooking-classes,  boys’  clubs  or 
brigades,  industrial  schools,  and  other  work  for  the 
children  and  youth  of  the  neighborhood.  The  organi- 
zations which  affect  particularly  the  young  and  older 
men  of  the  parish  are  the  gymnasium,  the  reading- 
room,  social  rooms,  and  social  clubs.  Where  a parish 
house  is  provided  with  a gymnasium,  it  is  sure  of  pei’- 
forming  an  important  social  work.  The  gymnasium 
always  takes  care  of  itself.  There  is  no  particular 
wisdom  that  is  necessary  with  a trapeze  and  parallel 
bars.  Denominational  differences  and  religious  pre- 
judices are  overcome  more  quickly  by  these  mechanical 
contrivances  than  by  anything  else  that  can  be  thought 
of.  It  will  generally  be  found  that  it  is  unwise  to 
make  any  limitations  of  creed  or  church  affiliation  for 
those  who  shall  use  the  gymnasium.  A fee  will  be 


130 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


charged  commensurate  to  the  incomes  of  those  who 
attend,  and  if  possible,  some  oversight  will  be  given  in 
the  athletic  exercises,  but  beyond  this  nothing  is  neces- 
sary. The  reading-room  pi-esents  a more  difficidt  pro- 
blem. It  is  not  at  all  uncommon  to  see  churches 
advertising  reading-rooms  that  are  very  little  attended 
by  church  people  or  any  one  else.  Certain  difficulties 
must  be  met.  In  the  first  place,  it  will  be  found  that 
a reading-room  which  is  directly  connected  with  the 
church  building  will  fail,  as  a rule,  to  draw  much 
patronage,  especially  if  the  neighborhood  is  not  par- 
ticularly in  sympathy  with  the  church.  The  useful- 
ness of  one  church  reading-room  in  New  York  is  prac- 
tically destroyed  by  the  fact  that  the  room  is  not 
adjacent  to  the  street.  Another  church  in  the  same 
city  reports  that  its  reading-room  is  very  pleasant  and 
open  to  all,  but  as  a matter  of  fact  scarcel}"  ever  does  a 
stranger  enter.  The  explanation  is  that  it  is  not  suffi- 
ciently jjublic  in  its  location,  and  occupies  a part  of  the 
church  building.  On  the  other  hand,  the  reading-room 
of  a downtown  church  in  New  York  has  a large  patron- 
age. It  is  open  from  eight  o’clock  in  the  morning  till 
nine  at  night.  The  minister  in  charge  reports  it  the 
most  successful  bi’anch  of  their  non-religious  work. 
Daily  and  weekly  papers  and  monthly  magazines  are 
furnished  besides  a library  of  3000  volumes  in  direct 
connection  with  the  reading-room.  During  the  year 
1898  there  were  41,642  readers,  or  an  average  of  137 
daily.  Of  these,  the  daily  average  of  male  adults  was 
120.  Two  reasons  can  be  given  for  the  success  of  this 
church  reading-room.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  entirely 
disassociated  from  the  religious  work  of  the  chapel. 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  131 

In  the  next  place,  no  expense  is  spared  to  make  the 
reading  matter  what  will  appeal  to  an  intelligent  class 
of  readers. 

The  social  rooms  of  a parish  house,  in  order  to  do 
their  work,  must  be  what  the  name  implies.  They 
should  offer  the  social  privileges  which  are  to  be  found 
in  any  other  social  clubs.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
the  religious  atmosphere  should  not  intrude,  and  that 
so  far  as  possible  the  rooms  should  be  controlled  by 
those  that  frequent  them.  The  men’s  club  of  St. 
Bartholomew’s  Church  of  New  York,  for  example, 
occupies  a suite  of  rooms  in  one  of  the  upper  stories  of 
the  parish  house.  Entering,  there  is  an  ante-room 
and  a hall ; next  comes  a large  and  handsome  smoking- 
room  ; adjoining  this  is  a library  and  reading-room. 
The  club  has  its  own  circulating  library  with  well-filled 
shelves.  Leading  from  the  smoking-room  there  is  a 
second  hallway ; ojjening  from  this  there  are  two  read- 
ing-rooms and  the  billiard-room  having  three  pool 
tables  and  one  regulation  billiard  table.  The  charge 
for  the  pool  tables,  which  are  most  used,  is  one  cent  per 
cue.  The  charge  for  the  billiard  table  is  twenty-five 
cents  per  hour.  The  billiard  table  is  one  of  the  most 
popular  features  of  the  club.  The  rooms  are  open 
from  ten  o’clock  in  the  morning  until  eleven  o’clock 
at  night.  During  the  day  members  who  have  a few 
minutes  of  leisure  drop  in  for  a chat  or  to  read  a news- 
paper. In  the  evening  the  club  is  well  filled,  the 
attendance  averaging  150  daily.  There  are  educa- 
tional classes  in  connection  with  the  club,  but  these 
are  not  very  popular  or  very  numerous.  It  is  the 
social  side  that  dominates.  Where  a parish  house 


132 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


has  such  social  rooms,  a club  may  be  formed  of  those 
who  shall  have  the  use  of  them,  dues  will  be  paid,  and 
perhaps  an  initiation  fee,  and  the  members  of  the  club 
will  have  the  right  to  regulate  the  use  of  the  rooms 
which  they  occupy.  In  St.  Bartholomew’s  the  club 
contains  from  five  to  six  hundred  members,  and  in  St. 
George’s  not  much  less,  although  at  St.  George’s  mem- 
bership is  limited  to  those  connected  with  the  church. 
The  dramatic  instinct  is  always  strong  in  young  men, 
and  wdiere  other  methods  fail  to  interest  this  will  often 
succeed.  The  study  of  plays,  with  an  occasional  pre- 
sentation of  them,  will  be  found  to  interest  and  hold 
young  men.  Civic  or  economic  questions  always  ap- 
peal to  young  men  because  of  their  political  and  pro- 
fessional interests.  Where  a club  is  made  purely  a 
literary  club,  its  existence  will  probably  be  somewhat 
precarious. 

Such,  then,  are  the  methods  for  providing  for  the 
social  needs  of  young  men  which  may  be  centred  in 
the  parish  house.  But  the  church  may  go  beyond 
this,  and  seek  to  support  missions  and  social  enter- 
prises which  have  no  connection  with  the  church  build- 
ins:  and  are  often  located  at  a distance  from  them. 
Some  of  these  may  be  briefly  described.  The  most 
common  method  is  to  establish  a mission  church. 
These  mission  churches,  where  they  have  no  social 
features  and  are  simply  centres  of  evangelization,  are 
often  dreary  in  their  character  and  accomplish  a mini- 
mum of  result.  Bor  one  thing,  they  lack  funds  and 
have  to  do  their  work  with  straitened  financial  re- 
sources. The  general  impression  of  these  churches  is 
one  of  monotony.  The  music  is  usually  indifferent, 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  133 


and  while  the  speakers  are  much  in  earnest,  their 
methods  are  not  calculated  to  accomplish  their  aims. 
Mission  churches  of  this  variety  are  probably  not  on 
the  increase  in  any  of  our  large  cities,  and  it  is  as 
well  that  they  are  not.  A modern  mission  church 
needs  a modern  conception  of  its  mission. 

Sometimes  churches  have  attempted  to  organize 
workingmen’s  clubs.  Several  years  ago  the  Episcopal 
churches  of  Philadelphia  made  the  experiment,  which 
was  discontinued  after  a time  because  the  members 
desired  to  have  a bar  in  the  clubhouse.  It  would  be 
well  to  have  this  question  decided  in  advance  whenever 
this  expei’iment  is  repeated.  Several  churches  of  the 
country  are  endowing  and  supporting  settlements  which 
do  the  work  of  college  settlements  and  in  much  the 
same  spirit.  The  churches  themselves  are  uptown, 
but  they  are  supporting  in  the  heart  of  the  city  not  a 
mission  or  an  evangelistic  agency  of  any  kind,  but  a 
settlement,  performing  a distinct  work  of  a most  valu- 
able kind  for  the  district  in  which  it  is  located.  Some 
of  the  most  effective  church  work  which  is  being  accom- 
plished to-day  in  the  country  is  of  this  character. 
Such  are  some  of  the  methods  by  which  the  churches 
can  perform  a social  service  to  the  community. 

One  could  wish  not  only  that  there  were  a greater 
number  of  churches  seeking  to  fulfill  their  mission  to 
the  community,  but  that  they  should  do  so  in  the  spirit 
of  disinterestedness  and  cooperation.  Where  a church 
seeks  its  own  increase  instead  of  the  increase  of  right- 
eousness, and  where  churches  labor  without  any  know- 
ledge of  each  other,  the  work  accomplished  must  be 
fragmentary.  An  even  greater  need  is  that  the  spirit 


134 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


of  a true  democracy  pervade  the  church,  in  which  social 
distinctions  shall  be  lost  sight  of.  Until  this  ideal  has 
been  at  least  in  some  measure  attained,  the  church 
cannot  expect  by  outer  means  to  attract  the  multitudes. 
But  where  such  a sentiment  is  a reality,  where  at  the 
same  time  the  spiritual  message  is  not  foi’gotten,  but 
is  exalted,  there  the  church  will  be  freed  from  the 
reproach  of  selfishness  and  indifference,  and  retain 
a position  of  undiminished  influence  and  power. 

The  work  of  missions  calls  for  a special  word. 
The  mission  is  a religious  and  reformatory  institution 
that  performs  the  function  of  the  church  without  ad- 
ministering the  sacraments.  Its  object  is  to  reach  the 
masses  with  the  religious  appeal  unhindered  by  the 
barriers  which  hedge  in  the  church.  Missions  may  be 
divided  into  different  groiips.  One  consists  of  the 
Gospel  or  I’escue  mission,  whose  sole  object  is  to 
make  the  spiritual  appeal  in  its  frequent  religious  ser- 
vices. Other  missions  combine  with  their  services  the 
giving  of  food,  clothing,  and  shelter.  The  bad  results 
of  this  system  have  become  so  evident,  however,  that 
missions  of  this  type  are  rapidly  passing  away.  In  the 
abstract  they  might  seem  to  proUde  a substitute  for 
the  saloon. of  the  most  practical  kind.  Actually  they 
tend  to  keep  a man  from  honest  labor  and  to  put  a 
premium  upon  hypocrisy. 

In  some  cases  provision  for  labor  is  made ; the  best 
modern  missions  of  this  class  invariably  proUde  it. 
The  wood  yard,  the  shoe-shop,  the  brush  and  broom 
factory,  and  other  methods  are  used  to  give  men 
work.  The  majority  of  them  make  the  condition  of 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  135 


entrance  to  be  a willingness  to  work,  this  being  consid- 
ered the  essential  condition  of  any  personal  reform. 
Ability  as  well  as  willingness  is  also  a requisite,  for 
otherwise  cripples  and  invalids  would  prove  the  ruin 
of  the  industrial  principle.  Instead  of  the  word 
“ inmates,”  the  men  are  called  “ employees,”  a change 
gratifying  to  the  men  and  promoting  self-respect.  No 
skilled  help  is  employed.  All  the  men  are  taught 
the  trade  after  entering.  All  the  work  is  carried  on 
by  men  who  come  from  the  sti'eets.  Such  is  the  mod- 
ern charity  mission.  It  must  be  admitted  that  such 
institutions  act  as  substitutes  for  the  saloon,  hut  it 
must  be  observed  that  now  our  mission  has  become  a 
school,  a reformatory,  an  industrial  home  ; it  offers  not 
only  social  opportunity,  but  other  opportunities  that  a 
man  needs  in  his  normal  life.  It  ministers  to  a frag- 
ment of  our  population  who  have  no  home,  no  friends, 
no  woi-k.  It  substitutes  for  many  things  that  a man 
ought  by  right  to  have  for  himself.  The  social  value 
of  such  institutions  is  in  direct  ratio  to  the  adequacy  of 
the  methods  employed  to  refit  the  man  for  a place  in 
society.  In  so  far  as  it  performs  this  whole  work,  if 
will  perform  the  work  included  within  it  of  offering  a 
social  centre. 

A large  number  of  missions  direct  their  efforts 
entirely  to  reaching  sailors.  Sometimes  they  are 
churches,  mariners’  churches.  They  are  also  known  as 
Port  Societies,  Seamen’s  Institutes,  and  Sailors’  Homes. 
There  is  no  denying  the  special  needs  of  this  class  of 
men,  since  many  have  no  homes  in  the  ports  which  they 
visit  and  are  exposed  to  the  temptations  which  the 
saloon  affords.  Sailors  need  spiritual  ministry,  hut 


136 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


the  social  needs  are  so  overwhelming  that  they  would 
seem  to  demand  greater  recognition  than  as  yet  they 
have  received.  If  possible,  it  would  be  well  to  have 
the  religious  services  of  the  mission  held  apart  from 
the  reading  and  social  rooms.  The  reading-room 
ought  always  to  have  the  latest  papers  and  magazines, 
instead  of  being  filled  with  last  year  contributions  from 
churches  and  families.  The  plan  of  having  the  build- 
ings controlled  by  the  men  themselves  has  been  tried  with 
success  in  some  of  the  sailors’  missions.  The  frequent 
absence  for  prolonged  intervals  of  many  men  does  not 
prevent  the  establishment  of  a committee  upon  which 
those  may  serve  who  are  to  be  in  port  or  near  at  hand 
for  a longer  or  shorter  season. 

Such  are  some  of  the  more  common  types  of  missions. 
As  for  the  Salvation  Army  and  the  Volunteers  of 
America,  these,  too,  prefer  to  treat  the  question  of  the 
saloon  and  its  patronage  from  a spiritual  standjjoint 
rather  than  one  merely  of  sociology  or  of  ethics.  Their 
peculiar  duty  is  to  bear  heavily  upon  the  hearts  and 
consciences  of  mankind.  This  is  the  work  they  do 
with  what  consecration  and  success  all  the  world  knows. 
The  Salvation  Army  has  proved  two  things  that  the 
modern  world  needed  to  have  freshly  demonstrated : 
the  power  of  the  Gospel  both  to  reach  and  to  uplift 
the  most  degraded,  the  outcasts  and  the  criminals ; and 
the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  attract  to  its  serGce  men 
and  women  of  intelligence  and  culture  who  take  literally 
the  word  of  the  IMaster  that  they  leave  all  and  follow 
Him.  In  this  demonstration  of  the  vitality  of  Chris- 
tianity in  its  most  humane  and  missionary  aspects  lies 
the  deepest  service  of  the  Salvation  Army.  Besides 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  137 


this  it  may  fairly  be  claimed  for  it  that  it  reaches  the 
masses  as  the  ordinary  mission  does  not  do.  Their 
work  is  prosecuted  with  success,  and  the  sincerity  of 
its  promoters  has  disarmed  much  criticism. 

From  the  beginning,  social  service  has  been  one  of 
the  great  underlying  ideas  of  the  Salvation  Army 
movement,  which  aims  to  care  for  the  temporal  as  well 
as  the  spiritual  needs  of  men.  A large  part  of  the 
social  work  of  the  army,  such  as  the  project  of  country 
colonization,  the  means  for  providing  temporary  work 
in  factories,  labor  yards,  and  work-shops,  for  securing 
permanent  employment  by  labor  bui’eaus,  the  work  for 
children,  the  rescue  homes,  the  hospitals  and  dispensa- 
ries, lies  outside  of  the  present  discussion.  Two  forms 
of  social  enterprise  in  which  the  Volunteers  of  America 
and  the  Church  Army  participate  must  be  described 
later,  — the  food  depots,  cheap  restaurants  and  coffee- 
houses, and  the  shelters  and  workingmen’s  hotels. 
With  these  eliminations  there  is  left  the  social  oppor- 
tunity offered  by  the  stations  or  barracks  of  the  army, 
of  which  there  are  no  less  than  684  in  the  different  cities 
of  the  country.  These  halls  are  always  ready  to  be 
thrown  open  in  times  of  special  need.  During  the  bliz- 
zards of  winter,  they  give  shelter  to  hundreds  of  home- 
less and  freezing  persons  on  the  streets.  Nearly  two 
thousand  homeless  and  destitute  men  and  women  were 
given  food  and  shelter  one  night  two  winters  ago  in  the 
shelters  and  barracks  established  by  the  army  in  the 
Borough  of  Manhattan.  And  it  must  be  said  that  the 
army  has  demonstrated  its  sincerity  to  a degree  which 
removes  the  repellent  atraosjjhere  adhering  so  often  to 
religious  institutions.  The  social  value  of  these  halls 


138 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


may  be  expressed  in  the  words  of  a young  man  who 
said  as  he  was  leaving,  “ Coming  in  here  has  kejjt  me 
out  of  the  saloon  for  one  night  at  any  rate,”  and 
without  any  doubt  he  was  but  one  of  many  hundreds. 
Still  it  is  evident  that  since  the  rooms  are  intended 
primarily  for  purposes  of  evangelization,  their  influence 
as  a social  resort  must  be  limited.  It  might  be  wished 
that  the  Salvation  Army  and  other  organizations  would 
enter  the  field  of  substitution.  Indeed,  this  has  been 
begun.  Public  reading-rooms  have  in  a few  instances 
been  established,  but  geilerally  in  connection  with  army 
headquarters.  If  such  rooms  could  be  thrown  open 
along  any  of  the  streets  of  our  cities,  and  provided  with 
current  papers  and  magazines,  they  would  attract  more 
visitors  than  they  do  now.  One  of  the  more  radical 
commissioners  of  the  army  expressed  himself  in  favor 
of  having  a smoking-room  annexed  to  one  of  the  haUs. 
The  halls  of  the  Salvation  Army  and  other  armies 
are  invariably  located  in  the  right  spots.  Their  work- 
ers are  almost  without  exception  free  from  prejudice, 
and  have  a good  hold  upon  the  people.  The  army  is 
in  a position  to  do  a larger  work  in  providing  for  the 
temporary  social  needs  of  hundreds  in  our  cities  than  it 
has  yet  attempted. 

It  is  impossible  to  appreciate  the  spirit  and  aim  of 
the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  without  under- 
standing pi’ecisely  the  motives  of  its  founders,  which 
have  continued  to  be  its  ruling  purpose.  What  im- 
pressed George  Williams,  when  he  went  to  London  in 
1841,  was  the  appalling  indifference  to  religion  among 
multitudes  of  young  men.  His  one  object  in  beginning 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  139 


the  work  which  has  grown  to  such  dimensions  was  to 
awaken  an  interest  in  religion  among  the  young  H’ades- 
men  of  London.  There  was  no  other  thought  than  to 
win  men  to  a personal  acceptance  of  religion.  In  a few 
years  the  methods  employed  broadened  somewhat,  but 
the  purpose  of  the  association  itself  was  unaltered. 
It  was  still  a “ united  body  of  young  men  working  for 
Jesus  Christ  in  the  sphere  of  their  daily  calling.”  It 
was  essentially  a missionary  movement,  the  field  being 
limited  to  the  young  men  engaged  in  the  trades  and 
commerce  of  a modern  city.  The  success  of  the  asso- 
ciation in  the  eyes  of  its  promoters  was  evidenced  in 
the  fact  that  many  were  converted  by  its  efforts. 

This  was  the  aim  of  all  associations  that  were  formed 
in  America  after  the  English  models.  It  was  to  be 
an  evangelistic  effort  on  the  part  of  Christian  young 
men  to  bring  others  under  religious  influences.  Noon 
prayer  meetings,  Sunday  evening  lectures,  mission 
Sunday  schools,  — these  were  the  methods  commonly 
employed,  and  to-day  when  so  much  has  been  added 
to  the  original  conception,  the  religious  idea  is  still 
uppermost.  All  else  is  a means  to  this  end.  The 
one  supreme  aim  is  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  among  young  men.  “ The  object  of  this  associ- 
ation,” says  one  report,  “ is  to  persuade  men  to  begin 
and  continue  in  the  Christian  life.”  Educational  and 
social  features  are  contributed,  but  they  are  never  the 
one  determining  end  in  themselves.  That  end  is  and 
always  has  been  “the  one  unswerving  devotion  to  the 
aim  of  winning  young  men  to  become  Christians.”  ^ 

1 History  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  by  L.  L.  Dog- 
gett,  p.  61. 


140 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


The  development  of  the  institution  has  been  very 
rapid.  Some  causes  for  its  success  are  tbe  phenomenal 
growth  of  city  population,  which  has  made  the  problem 
of  reaching  the  young  men  more  and  more  pressing ; 
the  fact  that  the  movement  put  into  practical  expression 
the  growing  sense  of  denominational  cooperation  ; that 
it  became  an  exj)onent  of  the  modern  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity, which  contemplates  the  development  of  the 
whole  nature  of  a man,  and  finally  that  it  offered  to 
Christian  laymen  a practical  field  for  religious  effort. 
The  adoption  of  the  new  methods  of  work,  which  made 
provision  for  the  intellectual,  social,  and  physical  needs 
of  young  men,  had  much  to  do  with  this  growth.  Up 
to  1870,  after  twenty  years  of  effort,  the  associations 
had  acquired  little  permanent  proiierty  and  had  few 
paid  workers.  Under  the  new  policy,  local  associations 
began  to  multiply,  buildings  were  erected,  and  paid  offi- 
cers became  the  rule.  To-day  (Year  Book  of  1900) 
the  total  number  of  associations  in  existence  in  North 
America  is  1439 ; 1293  of  these  report  an  aggregate 
membership  of  255,472.  The  net  value  of  buildings 
and  all  other  property  is  estimated  at  over  §20,000,000. 
The  current  expenses  of  984  of  these  associations  was 
over  two  and  a half  millions  of  dollars  for  the  year. 

The  opportunities  which  a modern  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association  offers  to  young  men  are  too  well 
known  to  need  description.  The  dues  are  not  over 
ten  dollars  a year  for  all  the  privileges,  including  the 
gymnasium,  and  sometimes  they  are  as  low  as  five 
dollars.^  Three  dollars  invariably  admits  to  everything 

1 There  are  only  two  associations  that  charge  over  ten  dollars  for  all 
privileges. 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  141 


but  the  gymnasium,  and  often  for  one  dollar  one  obtains 
the  use  for  a year  of  a good  reading-room,  all  kinds  of 
amusements,  evening  classes,  and  clubs.  The  gymna- 
siums are  often  the  very  finest  in  the  city.  The  evening 
classes  take  the  place  of  a first-class  business  college. 
The  social  rooms  are  fitted  up  with  every  comfort.  In 
some  associations  meals  are  served  for  the  benefit  of 
clerks,  and  young  business  men.  Employment  bureaus 
are  common.  Never  before  have  the  physical,  mental, 
and  social  needs  of  young  men  been  more  amply  sup- 
plied than  in  a modern  Christian  Association  building. 
It  is  impossible  not  to  be  impressed  with  the  value  of  its 
influence  upon  those  who  are  connected  with  it.  Many 
young  men  who  frequent  these  association  halls,  which 
are  kept  open  every  night,  are  preserved  from  the  temp- 
tations of  city  life.  They  are  the  centres  of  best  influ- 
ences. A young  man  is  always  sure  there  of  a personal 
interest,  of  good  advice,  of  a helping  hand,  and  hun- 
dreds receive  there  what  they  would  never  obtain  else- 
where. 

Special  mention  ought  to  be  made  of  one  department 
of  the  Association.  The  work  for  railroad  men  was 
begun  in  1872.  There  are  now  151  railroad  associa- 
tions, with  a membership  of  32,000.  They  are  made 
especially  attractive  for  railroad  men,  who  may  become 
members  irrespective  of  creed,  for  whose  needs  special 
provision  is  made  in  the  way  of  lodgings,  smoking  and 
reading  rooms,  lunch  counters,  and  evening  classes. 
These  associations  are  “ homes  away  from  home.” 
That  the  railroad  corporations  appreciate  their  work 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  make  an  annual  appro- 
priation of  f 175, 000  for  their  support.  Foreign  gov- 


142 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


ernments  are  beginning  to  realize  tbe  importance  of 
this  work,  and  are  seeking  to  establish  similar  institu- 
tions for  railroad  employees.  In  what  follows,  an  excep- 
tion must  in  part  be  made  of  this  department  of  the 
Christian  association  work. 

It  is  evident  at  once  that  association  buildings,  wdth 
all  their  splendid  equipment,  are  not  great  democratic 
centres  like  Cooper  Union  and  the  public  libraries, 
and  that  the  Association  itself  is  hardly  a factor  in  what 
may  be  called  the  industrial  problem.  A few  statistics 
will  make  this  clear.  The  institution  reaches,  with  all  its 
different  branches,  but  a fraction  of  the  young  men  in 
any  city,  and  the  buildings,  as  a rule,  are  a long  way 
from,  being  filled  to  their  utmost  capacity,  although 
thousands  of  men  without  work  are  needing  a place  of 
rest  and  amusement.  Baltimore  has  at  least  75,000 
young  men  among  its  population,  but  the  total  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Association  membership  is  but  2398. 
All  the  New  York  branches  have  a combined  member- 
ship of  4479  out  of  a total  constituency  of  550,000  men. 
Looking  at  the  country  at  large,  we  find,  according  to 
the  census  of  1890,  a total  of  6,119,646  men  between 
the  ages  of  16  and  44.^  In  the  500  towns  which  sup- 
port Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations,  we  find  a 
membership  of  169,299  (Year  Book  of  1899),  or  about 
three  per  cent  of  the  total.  In  Chicago  there  are  456,- 
964  men.  Of  these  in  the  four  departments  of  the 
Youns  Men’s  Christian  Association,  there  are  but  4721 
members,  or  but  one  per  cent  of  the  total. 

1 These  statistics  and  those  following  relating  to  Chicago  are  taken 
from  a report  prepared  by  Mr.  J.  T.  Oaks  and  other  members  of  the 
Chicago  Association  upon  the  religious  condition  of  young  men  in  the 
United  States. 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  143 


Of  greater  importance  is  the  question  of  the  class 
of  young  men  who  actually  make  use  of  the  associa- 
tion privileges.  Of  these  young  men  it  may  be  said 
that  they  consist  of  those  who  are  in  the  main  reli- 
gious in  temperament,  who  are  not  adverse  to  a reli- 
gious environment ; that  the  majority  of  them  have 
social  connections  in  the  city  in  which  they  reside  ; 
and  that  they  come  from  the  better  class  of  working- 
men, tradesmen  and  clerks,  or  members  of  professions, 
and  not  from  the  class  of  unskilled  labor. 

It  has  been  said,  by  some  in  authority,  that  at  least 
sixty  per  cent  of  the  young  men  connected  with  any 
association  could  be  considered  as  belonging  to  the 
category  of  religious  men  — men,  that  is,  who  have 
come  from  Christian  homes.  In  the  Chicago  Associa- 
tion (Central  Department)  sixty-seven  per  cent  attend 
evangelical  churches,  while  forty-four  per  cent  indi- 
cate membership  in  some  Protestant  church.  If  these 
figures  are  at  all  representative,  they  show  that  the 
natural  constituency  of  the  association  is  limited  to  a 
very  distinct  portion  of  the  men  of  our  cities.  For  the 
most  part,  they  are  Protestant,  and  of  these  a con- 
siderable percentage  are  already  affiliated  with  the 
church. 

Again,  it  can  be  shown  by  figures  from  at  least  one 
association  that  its  influence  upon  the  class  of  young 
men  who  are  comparative  strangers  is  rather  meagre. 
We  have  taken  the  records  of  new  members  join- 
ing the  principal  branches  in  New  York  during  the 
year  1897  with  reference  to  length  of  residence  in 
the  city. 


144 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOOX. 


One  Month. 

One  Month  and 
CNDEB  One  Year. 

Twenty-third  Street  Branch . 

115 

Per  cent. 

14.47 

1.30 

Per  cent. 
16.35 

West  Side  Branch  .... 

39 

6.02 

71 

10.96 

Harlem 

12 

2.42 

44 

8.87 

East  Side  Branch  .... 

- 

- 

1 

.50 

Young’ Men’s  Institute . . . 

10 

3.66 

17 

6.22 

German  Branch 

14 

9.52 

16 

10.89 

French  Branch 

14 

21.87 

22 

34.37 

Total 

204 

7.78 

301 

11.47 

One  Teas  and  cndee 
Five  Yeabs. 

Five  Teahs  and 
OVEB, 

Twenty-third  Street  Branch  . 

153 

Per  cent. 

19.25 

258 

Per  cent. 
32.45 

West  Side  Branch  .... 

122 

18.83 

242 

37.:34 

Harlem 

73 

14.72 

145 

29.23 

East  Side  Branch  .... 

13 

6..50 

64 

32.00 

Young  Men’s  Institute . . . 

28 

10.22 

1.54 

56.41 

German  Branch 

9 

6.12 

29 

19.73 

French  Branch 

18 

28.13 

10 

15.63 

Total 

416 

15.86 

902 

34.39 

TitFRTIM'R. 

Total. 

Twenty-third  Street  Branch  .... 

139 

Per  cent. 

17.48 

795 

West  Side  Branch 

174 

26.85 

648 

Harlem 

222 

44.76 

496 

East  Side  Branch 

122 

61.00 

200 

Young  Men’s  Institute 

64 

23.44 

273 

German  Branch 

79 

53.74 

147 

French  Branch 

64 

Total 

800 

30.50 

2623 

THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  145 


It  is  therefore  evident  that  but  a small  proportion 
of  those  who  become  intimately  acquainted  with  this 
association  are  actually  strangers  in  the  city.  These 
may  occasionally  frequent  the  rooms,  but  they  do  not 
at  once  find  a home  there.  On  the  whole,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  Association  finds  its  principal  field  among 
the  young  men  who  presumably  have  fixed  social  con- 
nections. Excellent  as  the  work  of  the  Association  is, 
it  leaves  untouched  the  question  of  social  recreation 
for  the  young  men  coming  to  New  York  without  any 
acquaintances  and  striving  to  make  their  way. 

That  the  membership  of  the  Association  is  not  re- 
cruited from  the  ranks  of  unskilled  labor  may  be  seen 
by  scanning  the  rolls  of  any  association  membership. 
Of  the  289  members  of  the  Young  Men’s  Institute 
branch  in  New  York,  98  are  clerks  and  salesmen,  45 
are  mechanics,  23  printers  and  lithographers,  and  14 
engineers  and  fii-emen.  Of  the  3547  members  of  the 
Central  Department  of  the  Chicago  Association,  2517 
are  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  557  in  the  profes- 
sions, 402  perform  skilled  labor,  and  only  71  are  un- 
skilled laborers.  Or,  if  we  look  at  the  question  of 
nationality,  we  discover  that  although  fifty-eight  per 
cent  of  the  wage-earners  of  Chicago  are  foreign  born, 
and  only  twenty  per  cent  are  native  Americans,  no 
less  than  seventy-seven  per  cent  of  the  membership 
of  the  Central  Department  are  Americans  and  only 
twenty-three  per  cent  are  foreign  born  or  of  foreign 
parentage. 

If  this  evidence  is  at  all  conclusive,  it  is  apparent 
that  the  Association  is  doing  a splendid  social  work 
among  a certain  number  of  young  men  in  our  large 


146 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


cities,  its  constituency  being  comjjosed  of  mecbanics 
and  tradesmen  wbo  are  for  tbe  most  part  native-born 
and  fixed  residents,  inclined  by  training  and  tempera- 
ment to  religious  ideas  ; but  that  it  is  failing  to  reach 
tbe  mass  of  tbe  men  in  our  cities  wbo  desperately  need 
the  very  advantages  which  the  Association  offers. 

Such  a conclusion  will  draw  forth  varying  replies. 
One  will  be  that  such  a constituency  is  the  legitimate 
field  of  association  effort ; that  the  Association  does 
not  seek  to  be  a factor  in  the  industrial  problem ; 
that  if  the  doors  should  be  flung  open  to  every  one, 
those  whom  the  Association  most  desires  to  help  would 
not  remain ; that  it  is  on  the  whole  better  policy  to 
work  for  a few  and  do  much  for  them  rather  than  to 
shelter  and  amuse  hundreds  for  whom  nothing  more 
could  be  done.  Such  a view  is  not  necessarily  narrow. 
Apparent  limitation  is  often  the  highest  wisdom. 

Others  will  be  dissatisfied,  unwilling  that  before  so 
great  a need  the  Association  should  continue  to  min- 
ister to  so  few  and  to  those  who  seem  least  in  need. 
They  will  seek  to  amend  the  constitution,  to  adopt 
new  methods  whereby  the  constituency  will  be  in- 
creased. They  will  advocate  the  abolishment  of  the 
“ membership  ” test  requiring  a conti'olling  member  of 
the  Association  to  belong  to  some  evangelical  church. 
By  making  the  Association  less  of  a church  annex, 
they  will  hope  to  attract  those  who  are  not  in  sym- 
pathy with  religious  ideas.  They  will  favor  the  erec- 
tion of  lodging-houses,  the  maintenance  of  coffee- 
houses, restaurants  and  reading-rooms  to  be  used  by 
all,  in  which  the  religious  element  makes  no  appear- 
ance. They  will  seek  to  introduce  amusements  like 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  147 


billiards,  smoking,  and.  card-playing,  maintaining  that 
under  right  conditions  these  are  not  vicious,  that  there 
is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  have  their  place  in 
an  institution  whose  aim  is  to  minister  to  all  classes  of 
men.  The  State  Association  of  Connecticut  already 
permits  the  use  of  billiards  in  the  different  Associa- 
tions, and  the  state  secretary  writes  that  this  form  of 
amusement  has  done  no  harm  and  has  “ helped  mate- 
rially in  holding  the  membership.” 

The  most  radical  proposition  of  all  will  insist  upon 
a utilization  of  the  present  Young  Men’s  Christian 
Association  buildings  in  all  our  cities  as  resorts  for 
the  wage-earner  no  matter  what  sacrifice  the  change 
may  involve.  Here  is  the  greatest  need  and  the 
most  difficult  work  now  confronting  American  Chris- 
tianity. All  means  thus  far  employed  have  proved 
totally  inadequate.  And  here  stand  expensive  and 
splendidly  equipped  buildings  by  no  means  filled  to 
their  utmost  capacity,  which  thousands  of  men  will 
never  think  of  entering  so  long  as  they  remain  centres 
for  evangelistic  or  religious  work.  A separation  of 
religious  exercises  from  association  buildings  will  be 
seen  to  be  the  only  solution  of  the  problem,  and  the 
buildings  will  then  be  thrown  open  to  workingmen, 
and  the  prejudice  which  at  present  keeps  them  away 
will  gradually  disappear. 

As  to  the  present  constitution  and  traditions  of  the 
Association  no  change  would  be  necessary.  Religious 
services  and  Bible  classes  will  be  held  in  adjacent  church 
buildings.  Bands  of  young  men  in  all  our  churches 
will  be  enrolled  as  Association  members,  and  a real 
service  will  have  been  rendered  in  thus  connecting 


148 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


religiously  inclined  young  men  immediately  witli  the 
churches.  The  benefits  to  the  Association  would  be 
incalculable  if  by  this  means  the  association  buildings 
might  minister  to  the  needs  of  thousands  of  those  who 
most  need  help  in  the  midst  of  the  social  evils  of  our 
city  life. 

The  one  essential  condition  of  a Settlement  is  the 
residence  of  one  or  more  persons  among  the  poorer 
classes,  for  the  jjurpose  of  ascertaining  and  supplying, 
in  some  degree,  their  needs.  The  settlement,  no  mat- 
ter of  what  name  or  kind,  realizes  the  ideal  of  a social 
democracy.  The  attitude  of  the  settlement  toward  all 
questions  of  reform,  toward  the  jJroblem  of  the  saloon 
in  its  relation  to  the  people,  for  example,  is  clearly  seen 
by  this  definition  of  its  real  position  in  the  social  organ- 
ism. It  is  the  natural  opponent  of  any  effort  to  reform 
actual  conditions  that  does  not  proceed  from  a correct 
appreciation  of  those  conditions  based  upon  a i^ersonal 
experience  of  them,  for  in  this  way  reform  becomes  in- 
terference from  without,  does  not  spring  from  a real 
sense  of  brotherhood.  Any  effort  to  practice  uj^on  one 
class  of  society  theories  conceived  by  another  class  has 
the  fatal  defect  inherent  in  any  divided  social  order. 
When,  as  realized  by  the  settlement,  society  is  not  two 
but  one,  then  the  woes  of  the  one  will  become  the  woes 
of  the  other  and  the  needs  of  one  the  needs  of  the  other, 
and  only  then  can  true  reform  be  either  justly  cou- 
ceived  or  successfully  achieved. 

The  temper  of  settlement  work  varies  according  as 
the  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  personal  force  or  upon 
the  development  of  institutional  activity.  Thus  the 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  149 

aim  of  one  settlement  is  described  in  these  terms : “ Our 
settlement  has  for  its  aim  to  develop  through  study  and 
action  in  this  single  locality  new  ways  of  meeting  some 
of  the  serious  problems  of  society,  such  as  may  be  ap- 
plied in  other  places,  and  to  draw  into  this  effort  the 
finest  available  powers  of  heart  and  mind.”  A personal 
influence  is  the  chief  opponent  of  the  saloon. 

The  value  of  such  a method  of  work  is  not  express- 
ible in  facts  or  figures.  Its  influence  in  overcoming 
the  hold  of  the  saloon  cannot  be  computed ; it  must  be 
inferred.  The  effort  is  to  create  social  i-esoui-ces  in  the 
personal  life,  in  the  home,  and  in  the  natural  associa- 
tions of  the  people  which  will  lessen  the  appeal  of  the 
saloons.  The  desire  of  a higher  kind  of  recreation  is 
created  and  fostered.  As  the  life  of  the  community 
becomes  itself  more  beautiful,  the  coarser  elements  of 
the  environment  occupy  a proportionately  infei’ior  posi- 
tion and  exert  a gradually  diminishing  influence.  Like 
any  other  growth,  this  development  is  gradual,  but  it  is 
none  the  less  real.  Evidences  of  its  iirogress,  however, 
are  not  wanting.  It  is  seen  in  the  growing  sense  of 
self-respect  in  many  families  that  feel  the  influence  of 
the  settlement.  It  is  seen  in  the  looks  and  the  dress 
of  the  children.  It  is  found  in  the  decrease  of  visible 
drunkenness  in  the  neighboi’hood  ; it  is  evidenced  in 
the  growth  of  better  ideals,  in  an  increased  interest  in 
the  higher  concerns  of  life.  To  illustrate  from  the  ex- 
perience of  a single  settlement,  which  is  the  experience 
of  them  all : The  head  worker  says  that  in  the  course 
of  nearly  five  years  he  has  not  known  on  the  premises 
one  dozen  cases  of  intoxication,  while  there  used  to  be 
that  number  every  week.  Of  even  more  interest  is  his 


150 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


estimate  that  to-day  not  thirty  per  cent  of  the  men 
connected  in  one  way  or  another  with  the  settlement 
vote  for  Tammany,  while  five  years  ago  they  were  a 
unit  in  their  support  of  the  Tammany  ticket. 

There  is  no  need  to  specify  the  means  by  which  such 
results  are  attained.  The  point  to  he  borne  in  mind  is 
this  : that  even  where  settlements  are  not  institutions, 
where  they  do  little  in  the  way  of  direct  substitution, 
of  offering  an  asylum  from  the  social  evils  of  the  com- 
munity, they  still  exert  a powerful  and  pervasive  influ- 
ence in  overcoming  the  attractions  of  the  saloon.  If 
there  were  one  direction  in  which  it  might  be  wished 
that  this  influence  should  make  itself  felt,  it  is  upon  the 
life  of  the  existing  adult  clubs  of  the  community,  and 
especially  the  young  men’s  clubs,  which  remain  as  sheep 
having  no  shepherd.  It  is  the  most  needed,  and  the 
least  attempted  of  all  the  forms  of  settlement  work  in 
America  to-day. 

But  no  settlement  contents  itself  with  being  only  the 
centre  of  a personal  influence,  but  seeks  to  improve 
the  external  conditions  of  life  by  whatever  means  it  can. 
The  activities  of  any  settlement  depend  upon  the  size 
of  the  building,  the  number  of  residents,  and  upon  the 
kind  of  work  which  the  settlement  proposes  for  the 
most  j)art  to  do. 

Most  settlements  devote  their  energies  chiefly  to  the 
children  and  to  the  young  people.  It  is  the  exception 
to  find  large  numbers  of  men  over  twenty-five  years  of 
age  connected  directly  with  any  of  the  settlements. 
The  age  at  which  the  boy  drops  away  varies.  Some 
give  it  at  eighteen  years,  others  at  twenty  and  others 
at  twenty -one,  and  all  agree  that  it  becomes  increas- 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  151 


ingly  difficult  after  that  age  to  hold  and  interest  the 
men.  To  this  fact  must  be  added  another,  and  that  is 
the  lack  of  equipment,  which  prevents  many  settle- 
ments from  doing  for  the  men  the  kind  of  work  they 
would  like  to  undertake.  A large  room  in  which  smok- 
ing is  permitted  is  the  essential  condition  for  any  such 
work,  and  even  this  many  settlements  do  not  possess. 
Some  have  buildings  adjacent  to  the  settlement  house 
itself  in  which  many  methods  of  providing  for  the  social 
life  of  the  neighborhood  are  successfully  carried  on. 

The  most  common,  and  the  most  useful  of  these  as 
a means  of  recreation,  are  the  entertainments  of  a 
social  nature  given  from  time  to  time,  to  which  both 
men  and  women  are  admitted.  These  entertainments 
never  fail  to  attract  the  people  in  large  numbers,  and 
it  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  numbers  have  been 
the  greatest  when  the  programme  was  presented  l^y 
the  young  people  themselves.  One  settlement  pro- 
vided thirty-one  of  these  entertainments  from  October 
to  May,  the  total  attendance  being  6731.  Nearly 
every  settlement  has  its  dancing  class.  The  opportu- 
nities thus  offered  for  social  enjoyment  in  the  midst  of 
elevating  surroundings  is  in  every  way  beneficial. 
Some  of  the  pupils  of  dancing  classes  have  been  led 
to  join  other  classes,  and  a few  have  been  stimulated 
to  take  a college  education.  Sometimes  these  social 
gatherings  are  even  more  informal  and  consist  simply 
of  a social  hour  for  all  who  care  to  attend.  But  how- 
ever simple  in  character,  they  are  dii'ect  substitutes  for 
the  saloon.  The  settlement  is  often  the  only  place  in 
the  neighborhood  at  which  rational  and  harmless  amuse- 
ment can  be  enjoyed. 


152 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


Next  in  importance  as  saloon  substitutes  are  the 
different  clubs  and  classes  for  men.  Almost  without 
exception,  these  clubs,  if  they  are  not  of  a wholly 
social  nature,  are  for  the  study  or  discussion  of  current 
political,  economic,  or  sociological  problems.  These  are 
the  interests,  as  we  have  seen,  which  command  the 
attention  of  the  adult  wage-earners  of  any  community. 
For  the  older  men  are  sometimes  provided  occasional 
conferences  on  modern  problems.  To  these  discussions 
women  are  admitted.  For  the  younger  men  similar 
discussions  and  debates  are  attractive.  The  club  that 
will  hold  the  interest  longest  is  a citizenship  club,  or 
an  economic  club,  or  some  association  that  tends  to 
bi’ing  the  members  into  intelligent  connection  with  the 
problems  of  the  day.  The  school  extension  class  of 
one  settlement  graduates  its  members  into  the  munici- 
pal departments.  Eleven  men  have  gone  from  it  into 
the  police,  thirteen  into  the  department  of  street 
cleaning,  and  another  into  the  office  of  sewer  assess- 
ments. The  citizenship  club  of  another  settlement 
was  instrumental  in  calling  a public  meeting  on  the 
water  question.  Almost  invariably  it  is  found  that 
some  such  methods  as  these  must  be  employed  if  the 
young  men  are  to  be  held  after  they  have  been  gradu- 
ated from  the  boys’  clubs. 

But  what  is  needed  above  evei’y thing  else  is  a plan 
by  which  young  men  may  be  held  to  the  settlement 
instead  of  drifting  away,  as  is  so  often  the  case.  Un- 
less this  can  be  accomplished,  the  work  of  the  settle- 
ments for  men  must  at  the  best  be  the  least  successful 
of  their  different  activities.  The  best  plan  for  retain- 
ing the  hold  upon  the  men  is  to  give  them  a real 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT,  153 


responsibility  in  the  control  of  the  settlement  house  as 
a whole,  and  not  merely  to  train  them  in  the  habits  of 
self-government  within  their  own  organizations.  The 
method  rests  upon  the  simple  proposition  that  with 
adult  life  comes  a growing  sense  of  independence,  a 
growing  sense  of  restraint  under  management,  how- 
ever beneficent,  a growing  desire  to  initiate,  and  to 
control.  Young  peojjle  of  a certain  age  much  prefer 
to  do  things  rather  than  to  have  things  done  for  them. 
It  is  here  that  the  guild  idea  has  its  hold.  The 
guild  committee  of  the  University  Settlement,  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made,  does  things  and  feels 
free  to  criticise  points  of  management  or  policy  which 
do  not  meet  their  approval.  It  can  act  in  a legislative 
capacity  upon  some  matters,  and  is  an  advisory  board 
to  the  head  worker  upon  others.  The  results  of  such 
a plan  have  been  plainly  seen  in  the  continuous  hold 
which  the  settlement  has  maintained  upon  those  clubs 
after  their  members  have  grown  to  adult  years.  The 
original  young  men’s  club  does  not  exist  to-day, 
it  is  true ; but  the  only  reason  for  this  is  that  the 
neighborhood  has  changed,  and  the  German  families, 
from  which  the  club  was  recruited,  have  moved  away. 
The  club,  originally  composed  of  boys  from  fourteen 
to  eighteen  years  of  age,  now  men  of  from  twenty-five 
to  twenty-nine  years  old,  still  exists  with  practically 
the  same  members. 

But  the  work  of  the  settlements  in  counteracting  the 
social  attractions  of  the  saloon  goes  beyond  an  indi- 
rect influence  upon  the  neighborhood  as  a whole,  and 
even  beyond  direct  provision  for  the  social  needs  of 
its  own  constituency.  The  effort  has  been  made  to 


154 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


establish  and  operate  direct  social  substitutes  open  to 
all  the  residents  of  the  neighborhood,  whether  or  not 
they  are  connected  with  the  settlement  itself.  This  is 
a recent  development  and  one  which  has  not  as  yet 
been  carried  very  far.  Reading-rooms,  diet  kitchens, 
and  coffee-houses  have  been  established  and  success- 
fully conducted  ; and  a few  settlements  in  the  country 
are  endeavoring  to  meet  this  problem  by  the  most 
heroic  of  all  means.  The  settlement  house  itself  is  made 
a home  for  families  or  individuals,  and  supplies  within 
that  home  means  of  sociability  and  of  self-improve- 
ment. In  the  city  of  Buffalo  a tenement  block  with  no 
fewer  than  one  hundred  families  in  it  was  rented  by  a 
settlement  worker.  It  was  one  of  the  worst  in  the  city 
and  in  the  worst  possible  location.  The  block  was  put 
in  good  repair  and  rented  to  fifty-six  tenants,  who  have 
sub-rented . until  it  is  occupied  at  present  by  fuU  one 
hundred  families,  only  now  certain  rules  of  hygiene 
are  insisted  upon  ; classes  have  been  started  and  clubs 
organized  from  among  the  occupants.  There  are 
amusement  rooms  and  entertainments,  a library  and 
a savings  bank,  and,  needless  to  say,  a new  order  of 
life  among  the  little  colony  of  five  hundi’ed  people. 

There  is  every  reason  for  believing  that  the  provi- 
sion for  direct  substitutes  can  be  accomplished  more 
speedily  and  managed  more  wisely  by  the  settlements 
than  by  any  other  agency.  This  would  be  a most  fortu- 
nate extension  of  the  fund  of  wdsdom  and  of  consecrated 
personal  energy  already  represented  by  the  fourscore 
of  settlements  existing  to-day  in  America.  There 
would  doubtless  be  no  aversion  upon  the  part  of  the 
settlement  people  to  undertake  the  responsibility. 


THE  CHURCH,  MISSION,  AND  SETTLEMENT.  155 


They  possess  a knowledge  of  the  field  not  possessed  or 
obtainable  by  any  others  than  actual  residents  and 
trained  observers.  They  have  a habit  of  mind  which 
precludes  the  possibility  of  any  taint  of  patronage  in 
their  several  undertakings.  They  are  not  “ foreign- 
ers ” who  are  invading  for  the  purposes  of  reform. 
And  last  but  not  least,  they  are  free  from  any  religious 
or  temperance  bias  which  subjectively  and  objectively 
alike  has  proved  the  rnin  of  many  a well-intentioned 
enterprise.  If  churches,  Women’s  Christian  Temper- 
ance unions.  Young  People’s  societies,  and  private 
individuals  would  utilize  the  settlements  as  their 
agents  in  such  schemes,  instead  of  attempting  to  man- 
age them  alone,  there  would  be  fewer  failures  in  the 
difficirlt  work  of  substitution. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 

Many  of  the  resorts  of  the  people  during  the  winter 
months  have  already  been  described  : the  evening 
schools,  lectures  and  classes  of  all  kinds,  the  reading- 
rooms  and  libraries.  Such  clubs  as  are  at  the  disposal 
of  the  working  people  are  now  crowded.  All  of  these 
furnish  a certain  amount  of  amusement  and  recreation. 
It  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  chapter,  however,  to 
endeavor  to  estimate  the  ethical  value  of  certain  dis- 
tinctively amusement  agencies,  especially  as  they  oper- 
ate as  substitutes  for  the  saloon. 

A discussion  of  the  value  of  billiard  and  pool  rooms 
as  social  centres  is  simplified  somewhat  by  the  discovery 
that  the  opportunity  to  indulge  in  this  pastime  is  gen- 
erally inseparable  from  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors. 
The  saloons  and  the  hotels  furnish  ordinarily  the 
rendezvous  for  the  billiard  player.  The  number  of 
billiard  rooms  or  halls  in  any  city  which  exist  entirely 
separate  from  a saloon  or  a bar  is  very  limited.  In 
Baltimore  only  thirteen  were  to  be  found,  of  which  one 
was  situated  next  to  a saloon  and  another  had  a passage 
connecting  it  with  an  adjacent  bar-room.  In  Denver  of 
seventy-six  pool  and  billiard  rooms,  sixty  were  licensed 
as  adjuncts  of  saloons  or  clubs,  and  of  the  remainder 
several  were  next  door  to  a saloon.  Chicago  has  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  billiard  halls,  but  only  those  in  the  local 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


157 


option  districts  of  Hyde  Park  and  Englewood  are  free 
from  tlie  sale  of  liquors.  In  Philadelphia  and  Boston, 
where  comparatively  few  of  the  saloons  have  appliances 
for  either  billiards  or  pool,  many  more  billiard-rooms 
were  found ; but  even  where  their  number  is  sufficiently 
large  appreciably  to  effect  the  situation,  their  depend- 
ence upon  adjacent  saloons  is  commonly  too  great  to  give 
them  much  value  as  saloon  substitutes.  Frequently  the 
billiard-room  is  placed  as  near  as  possible  to  a saloon, 
sometimes  above  it,  sometimes  next  door  to  it,  often 
with  a connecting  passage.  The  idea  of  the  billiard- 
room  proprietor  is,  generally  speaking,  to  see  how  many 
of  the  saloon  patrons  he  can  attract  to  his  own  estab- 
lishment after  or  between  drinks.  He  does  not  seri- 
ously contemplate  building  up  a patronage  of  his  own. 
One  proprietor  computed  it  in  this  way : “ The  saloon 
next  me  does  a business  aggregating  a thousand  dollars 
a week.  I expect  fully  fifty  per  cent  of  this  patronage 
to  come  to  me  during  the  evening  and  on  Saturday 
afternoons,  to  ‘ loaf  between  di-inks.’  In  this  way  I 
can  do  business.”  In  New  York  it  was  not  evident 
that  many  of  the  billiard  halls  had  a saloon  connection. 
They  seemed  to  shift  their  location  frequently,  evidently 
seeking  the  cheapest  rents.  But  an  examination  of  the 
places  and  of  their  patrons  showed  that  the  relation 
between  them  and  the  saloons  was  very  close.  It  is 
doubtful  also  if  the  “ atmosphere  ” of  ordinary  billiard- 
rooms  is  appreciably  different  from  that  of  the  saloon, 
or  if  it  really  encourages  its  patrons  to  any  higher 
standard  of  conduct.  It  is  commonly  the  loafing-place 
of  the  toughs  and  sports  of  the  neighborhood  who  are 
already  confirmed  saloon  patrons.  It  is  the  stepping- 


158 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


stone  to  the  saloon  of  the  youth  who  has  not  already 
contracted  the  drink  habit.  In  a word,  the  transition 
from  the  pool-room  to  the  saloon  is  very  easy,  and  the 
patrons  of  the  one  are  already  or  tend  very  naturally 
to  become  patrons  of  the  other. 

The  question  of  how  far  the  billiard  hall  fosters  the 
gambling  habit  is  a difficult  one  to  answer.  Of  course, 
playing  for  drinks  or  for  the  cost  of  a game,  in  itseK 
a gambling  device,  is  a common  matter  of  courtesy. 
Beyond  this  certain  billiard-rooms  in  any  city  undoubt- 
edly exist,  well  known  to  the  “ talent,”  where  bets  are 
made  and  encouraged  by  the  proprietor,  but  in  general 
it  can  probably  be  said  that  billiards  is  not  a gambling 
game.  It  depends  too  much  on  skill,  too  little  on 
chance,  and  gives  no  opportunity  for  cheating.  As  one 
man  put  it,  “ Professional  gamblers  won’t  touch  bil- 
liards ; it ’s  too  honest  a game.”  ^ Yet  all  things  con- 
sidered, it  must  be  admitted  that  the  billiard-rooms  of 
our  cities  as  they  exist  are  not  in  any  legitimate  sense 
ethical  substitutes  for  the  saloon.  The  same  estimate 
must  be  made  of  the  bowling-alleys,  and,  to  a less 
extent,  of  the  shooting-galleries,  although  the  latter  are 
not  numerous  enough  seriously  to  enter  into  the  pro- 
blem. They  both  cater  to  the  saloon  trade  rather  than 
offset  it.  They  are  a saloon  annex  rather  than  a saloon 
rival.  It  thus  unfortunately  comes  to  pass  that  even 
the  most  popular  games  requiring  skill  and  intelligence 
are  found  to  be  in  such  close  connection  with  the  drink 
habit  that  they  cannot  be  counted  among  the  number 
of  the  all  too  few  means  of  offsetting  it.  The  situa- 
tion certainly  suggests  the  possibility  of  rescuing  these 
1 From  the  Chicago  report. 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


159 


leo’itimate  means  of  entertainment  from  the  associations 

o 

which  tend  to  degrade  them,  of  making  them  helpful 
instead  of  harmful  centres  of  recreation.  Under  com- 
petent management  they  would  certainly  be  self-sup- 
porting. 

In  every  city,  especially  in  the  tenement  districts, 
there  are  public  halls  which  serve  as  centres  for  the 
social  life  of  the  neighborhood.  A study  of  the  difPer- 
ent  forms  of  social  activity  carried  on  in  these  halls 
gives  one  an  idea  of  the  scope  of  the  social  life  of  the 
working  people.  These  halls  are  in  effect  the  common 
drawing-rooms,  ballrooms,  and  music-rooms  of  hun- 
dreds of  families  living  in  the  same  district.  Not  only 
concerts  and  dances,  but  private  weddings  and  family 
celebrations  as  well  are  commonly  given  in  them.  The 
best  known  and  best  managed  of  these  halls  are  in 
constant  demand.^  The  manager  of  one  of  them  in  the 
East  Side  of  New  York  said  recently  that  a series  of 
halls  and  weddings  had  just  closed  which  had  run 
through  twenty-seven  nights.  These  halls  will  accom- 
modate from  five  to  twelve  hundred  persons,  and  can 
be  rented  for  thirty  dollars  a night  for  a wedding  or  a 
ball.  The  manager  of  the  dance  pays  for  the  hall, 
hires  an  orchestra  of  from  four  to  six  instruments,  and 
expects  to  be  more  than  repaid  by  the  sale  of  tickets  at 
twenty-five  and  thirty-five  cents. 

These  halls  are  also  the  headquarters  of  the  dancing 
classes  and  academies.  The  social  value  of  these  classes 
is  very  great.  They  afford  one  of  a very  few  means  of 
recreation  where  the  sexes  can  meet  upon  a decent 

1 Year  Book  of  the  University  Settlement  of  New  York,  1899,  p.  39. 


160 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


footing.  For  the  most  part  these  dancing  classes  are 
respectably  conducted,  and  there  is  a good  deal  of  taste 
and  refinement  to  be  found  even  in  the  poorest.  The 
use  of  liquors  between  dances  is  seldom  carried  too  far. 
The  chief  object  is  to  have  a social  evening,  and  those 
who  attend  are  more  bent  on  social  enjoyment  than 
upon  drinking.  Moreover  the  dancers  are  on  specially 
good  behavior,  since  they  know  that  otherwise  they  will 
lose  their  proficiency,  and  there  is  considerable  comjDe- 
tition  for  the  distinction  of  being  the  most  graceful 
dancer. 

The  question  of  the  ethical  value  of  these  amusement 
centres  depends  upon  the  use  to  which  they  are  put 
and  upon  the  presence  or  absence  of  the  bar.  Some 
halls  acquire  a bad  name  and  become  the  rendezvous 
for  the  rougher  classes  of  girls  and  men.  In  some 
cities  the  proprietor  is  always  licensed  to  maintain  a 
bar,  and  then  intoxication  is  common,  especiall}'  at  the 
larger  dances,  when  between  seven  and  eight  hundred 
persons  attend.  At  smaller  dances,  greater  respecta- 
bility is  maintained  because  the  company  is  more  select. 
At  the  weddings  excessive  drinking  is  rare.  It  is  at 
the  public  balls  that  disorder  is  at  its  height,  when  the 
beer  flows  freely.  All  this  emphasizes  the  need  of 
public  meeting-places  where  liquor  is  not  served  and 
where  a high  social  tone  may  be  cultivated.  Just  as 
the  summer  problem  is  one  of  getting  out  of  door  meet- 
ing-places and  breathing-spaces,  so  the  winter  calls  for 
respectable,  quiet,  and  well-ventilated  public  halls  as 
the  solution  of  its  social  problem. 


A common  form  of  amusement  for  men  is  furnished 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


161 


by  the  athletic  clubs  or  associations  which  conduct 
boxing  and  sparring  exhibitions  during  the  winter 
months.  In  Philadelphia,  for  example,  there  are  no 
less  than  six  such  associations,  and  the  bouts  occur  in 
the  season  at  veiy  fi-equent  intervals.^  All  who  are 
interested  in  the  better  conditions  for  the  working  peo- 
ple will  agree  that  this  sport,  even  at  its  best,  is  not  a 
desirable  form  of  amusement,  yet  it  is  impossible  not 
to  say  a word  in  its  defense.  In  the  first  place,  it  must 
be  recognized  that  a good  deal  of  surplus  energy  can 
be  worked  off  at  these  places  in  a very  short  time. 
The  thirst  for  excitement,  which  often  drives  a man  to 
drink,  is  here  quickly  satisfied.  The  interest  is  per- 
haps more  intense  than  at  any  other  kind  of  sport. 
Here  is  competition  in  its  most  vivid  form;  the  atten- 
tion is  strained  to  the  last  degree.  A man  goes  home 
exhausted  after  such  an  evening.  He  has  had  all  that 
he  can  stand  of  excitement  for  the  time  being.  Then, 
too,  the  element  of  brutality  at  these  limited  round 
contests  is  not  so  great  as  might  be  imagined.  As  a 
rule,  the  six-round  contests  at  the  Arena  or  the  Indus- 
trial Hall  of  Philadelphia  are  much  less  brutal  than 
the  average  football  or  wrestling  match.  The  man- 
agers, for  one  thing,  do  not  enjoy  the  notoriety  which 
bruising  contests  bring  them,  and  do  their  best  to 
avoid  their  occurrence.  Eighteen  minutes  does  not 
offer  sufficient  time  for  any  great  amount  of  damage 
to  be  done,  especially  since  neither  of  the  principals 
is  anxious  to  score  a “ knock  out.”  Disgusting,  then, 
as  these  contests  often  are  from  an  aesthetic  or  even 
moral  point  of  view,  they  are  not  an  unmitigated  evil 
1 From  the  Philadelphia  report. 


162 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


by  any  means,  for  often  they  seem  to  develop  the  vir- 
tue of  honesty  as  well  as  to  put  a premium  upon  pluck. 
In  “ A Ten  Years’  War,”  Mr.  Riis  describes  one  of 
these  “ mills  ” and  brings  out  the  point  of  which  we 
have  spoken.^  “ The  hall  was  jammed  with  a rough 
and  noisy  crowd,  hotly  intent  upon  its  favorite.  His 
opponent,  who  hailed,  I think,  from  somewhere  in 
Delaware,  was  greeted  with  hostile  demonstrations  as 
a ‘ foreigner.’  But  as  the  battle  wore  on,  and  he 
was  seen  to  be  fair  and  manly,  while  the  New  Yorker 
struck  one  foul  blow  after  another,  the  attitude  of  the 
crowd  changed  rapidly  from  enthusiastic  approval  of 
the  favorite  to  scorn  and  contempt ; and  in  the  last 
round,  when  he  knocked  the  Delawarean  over  with  a 
foul  blow,  the  audience  rose  in  a body  and  yelled  to 
have  the  fight  given  to  the  ‘ foreigner,’  until  my 
blood  tingled  with  pride.  For  the  decision  would 
leave  it  practically  without  a cent.  It  had  staked  all 
it  had  on  the  New  Yorker.  ‘ He  is  a good  man,’  I 
heard  on  all  sides,  while  the  once  favorite  sneaked 
away  without  a friend.  ‘ Good  ’ meant  fair  and  manly 
to  that  crowd.  I thought,  as  I went  to  the  office  the  next 
morning,  that  it  ought  to  be  easy  to  appeal  to  such  a 
people  with  measures  that  were  fair  and  just,  if  we 
could  only  get  on  common  ground.  But  the  only  hint 
I got  from  my  reform  paper  was  an  editorial  denuncia- 
tion of  the  brutality  of  boxing,  on  the  same  page  that 
had  an  enthusiastic  review  of  the  college  football  sea- 
son. I do  not  suppose  it  did  any  harm,  for  the  paper 
was  probably  not  read  by  one  of  the  men  it  had  set 
out  to  reform.  Yet  suppose  it  had  been,  how  much 
1 A Ten  Years'  War,  pp.  258,  259. 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


163 


would  it  have  appealed  to  them  ? Exactly  the  quali- 
ties of  robust  manliness  which  football  is  supposed  to 
encourage  in  college  students  had  been  evoked  by  the 
trial  of  strength  and  skill  which  they  had  witnessed. 
As  to  the  brutality,  they  knew  that  fifty  young  men 
are  maimed  or  killed  at  football  to  one  who  fairs  ill 
in  a boxing-match.  Would  it  seem  to  them  common 
sense,  or  cant  and  humbug?” 

Of  the  smaller  amusement  enterprises  which  appear 
from  time  to  time  along  the  streets  of  our  cities,  there 
is  little  to  be  said  in  this  place.  Their  influence  upon 
the  social  life  of  the  people  is  meagre  and  intermit- 
tent. A shooting-gallery  will  attract  for  a time,  the 
mutoseope  will  reap  its  harvest  of  pennies,  and  any 
novelty,  if  duly  placed  on  exhibition  with  a suitable 
amount  of  advertising,  will  draw  its  crowds  of  boys 
and  girls  if  not  of  men.  The  more  stable  of  these 
places  of  entertainment  are  the  dime  museums,  aqua- 
riums, and  nickelodeons,  which  occupy  a kind  of  middle 
ground  between  the  circus  and  the  playhouse.  It  is 
here  that  the  three-legged  boy  or  the  double-headed 
woman,  the  orang-outang,  and  the  sea  serpent  can  be 
seen.  It  is  here  that  Madame  Bosca  swallows  live 
snakes,  that  the  human  ostrich  eats  nails  and  glass 
and  knives,  that  the  India-rubber  man  turns  himself 
inside  out.  Usually  there  is  a poor  sort  of  dramatic 
entertainment  given  in  an  adjacent  room  called  “ com- 
edy skits  ” of  doubtful  taste ; clog-dancing,  juggling, 
songs,  and  “ acting  ” of  all  kinds  have  their  place. 
The  patronage  of  the  best  of  these  museums  is  gen- 
erally large.  Thus  Austin  & Stone’s  Museum  on 


164 


SUBSTITUTES  FOE  THE  SALOON. 


ScoUay  Square,  Boston,  is  usually  filled  during  the 
afternoon  and  evening  at  almost  any  season  of  the 
year.  Something  is  going  on  there  all  the  time,  and 
the  “ fakes  ” are  few.  The  crowd  is  made  up  very 
largely  of  men  and  boys  whose  idle  time  and  spare 
dimes  are  consumed  without  much  damage  being  done 
to  their  morals.  The  lowest  of  these  places  are  very 
low.  Between  the  best  and  worst  are  those  which 
make  a point  of  sensational  advertisement.  T^Tthin 
they  are  harmless  enough,  and  when  their  true  char- 
acter becomes  too  well  known,  they  move  on  to  another 
locality.  The  character  of  all  these  places,  then,  varies 
considerably.  Where  they  are  not  absolutely  bad,  they 
have  a certain  value  in  the  number  and  character  of 
their  constituency,  whose  time  and  money  woidd  better 
be  spent  there  than  in  the  saloons. 

The  most  important  place  of  amusement  for  the 
people,  together  with  the  saloon  and  the  public  hall,  is 
without  doubt  the  theatre.  It  is  necessary  to  see  to 
what  extent  the  theatre  is  available  for  the  people  and 
what  its  total  influence  is  as  a centre  of  recreation. 
It  is  important  at  the  start  to  make  a distinction,  for 
the  discussion  of  the  saloon  as  a social  centre  reminds 
iis  that  the  line  between  the  saloon-theatre  and  the 
theatre  itself  is  not  always  very  clear.  Sometimes 
saloons  have  a theatre  annex,  and  sometimes  theatres 
permit  smoking  and  drinking.  A theatre,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  this  discussion,  is  a place  where  a stage  per- 
formance is  given  for  which  an  admission  price  is 
charged. 

This  eliminates  the  saloons  which  offer  some  sort  of 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


165 


dramatic  entertainment  and  the  music  halls.  These 
music  halls,  so  called,  are  in  reality  saloons  of  the 
lowest  type  run  under  a different  name.  They  are 
worse  than  ordinary  saloons,  since  they  combine  the 
vice  of  prostitution  with  that  of  intemperance.  Ad- 
mission is  free.  The  women,  after  performing,  fre- 
quently circulate  through  the  hall  in  order  to  persuade 
the  men  to  “set  them  up”  to  drinks.  Needless  to  say 
these  places  are  the  centres  of  an  immense  amount  of 
social  vice.  There  is  absolutely  no  good  in  them,  and 
it  is  difficult  to  understand  why  they  are  allowed  the 
protection  of  the  law  in  any  of  our  American  cities. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  saloon  vaudeville  shows. 
They  are  an  unmitigated  nuisance,  a public  misfortune 
of  such  dimensions  that  no  time  should  be  lost  in  abso- 
lutely prohibiting  them.  No  saloon  should  be  allowed 
to  present  any  form  of  dramatic  entertainment.  Inva- 
riably, as  might  be  expected,  the  performance  is  low 
and  degrading.  The  tendency  is  always  downward. 
The  difficulty  of  drawing  the  people  into  decent  places 
of  amusement  must  be  great  when  it  has  to  rival  the 
free  saloon  performances.  The  very  men  that  frequent 
these  places  and  the  music  halls  are  the  men  that  most 
need  decent  recreation.  Here  is  a sample  of  what  they 
have  given  them  in  a well-known  Chicago  saloon- 
theatre  : — 

PROGRAMME 

Week  Beginning 
Monday,  August  14,  1899. 

The  performance  will  commence  with 
the  screaming  comedy  by  Jim  Smith,  entitled 
McCracken’s  Reception. 


166 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


Characters  by  Company. 

Staff 

Promoter  . . H.  Besch. 

Matchmaker H.  Blanchard. 

Referee Jim  Smith. 

Bottleholder Fred  Kettler. 

Timekeeper E.  Jay  Smith. 

Time,  First  Round  in  Favor  of 
ANISTE  GOLDIE. 

The  West  Side  Slasher, 

LEO  FLORENCE. 

BESSIE  RAYMOND. 

She  is  Handy  with  Her  Mitts. 

Jeffries’  Next  Opponent, 

MR.  FRED  HAWLEY. 

MABEL  LEONDO, 

Heroine  of  a Million  Matches  — Parlor,  Sulphur,  and 
Otherwise. 

SADIE  MARSH, 

The  Victor  of  many  Defeats. 

SMITH  vs.  FLORENCE, 

With  a Bunch  of  Siler  Gossip. 

The  Airweight  Champion, 

MISS  NELLIE  BURNS. 

The  INIisses 

GOLDIE  vs.  RAYMOND 
WiU  Meet  All  Comers. 

The  Modern  Atlas, 

GEORGE  WILSON, 

In  Feats  of  Hea\'y  Lifting,  etc. 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


167 


The  Unknown  and  Undefeated 
ANNIE  LESLIE.  * 

MISS  TOPSY  TURVY, 

In  Training  for  a Rough  House. 

A Good  Tnainer,  Adviser,  and  Fixer, 

MABEL  LEONDO. 

A Grand  Wrestling-Match. 

MR.  WILSON 

Will  Meet  a Different  Man  Each  Evening. 

The  effect  of  such  an  evening’s  entertainment  is  not 
difficult  to  imagine.  The  least  that  any  American  city 
can  do  for  its  people  is  to  prohibit  immoral  liquor 
sellers  from  debauching  the  minds  of  its  citizens. 

There  is  no  such  thing  in  America  to-day  as  a real 
theatre  of  the  people,  — a theatre,  that  is,  specially 
designed  to  amuse  and  at  the  same  time  to  instruct  the 
working  men  and  women  of  our  cities  and  country  dis- 
tricts. That  is  not  to  say  that  there  are  not  some 
theatres  which  are  accomplishing  this  end,  but  generally 
speaking,  it  is  true  that  all  of  our  theatres  to-day  are  in 
the  control  of  private  capital  if  not  of  huge  syndicates, 
whose  prime  object  is  to  see  how  much  they  can  make, 
without  very  much  of  idealism  in  a profession  which 
by  every  right  should  command  a good  deal  of  it. 

This  applies  to  high-priced  and  low-priced  theatres 
alike,  for  the  bond  between  the  two  is  closer  than  most 
people  supiiose.  The  nearest  approach  to  the  ideal 
in  our  day  is  the  occasional  performance  in  the  best 
theatres  which  appeals  directly  to  the  sympathies  and 
best  sentiments  of  the  working  people.  When  Jeffer- 
son or  Maude  Adams  is  playing,  it  is  a pleasure  to  visit 


168 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


the  galleries,  if  only  to  see  hundreds  of  the  working 
people  following  the  ^performance  with  the  greatest 
delight.  It  makes  one  long  for  the  dawn  of  the  real 
metropolitan  theatre  for  the  people. 

If  we  look,  however,  simply  at  the  theatres  who.se 
regular  admission  is  as  low  as  t*en  cents  and  never 
above  fifty  cents,  the  prospect  is  certainly  not  encour- 
aging. These  theatres  can  be  divided  roughly  into 
three  classes,  as  they  offer  vaudeville  performances, 
melodrama,  or  opera.  The  chief  causes  for  discourage- 
ment lie  in  the  number  and  character  of  the  vaudeville 
or  variety  shows ; in  the  fact  that  the  melodrama  and 
standard  plays  are  gradually  losing  their  hold,  and 
that  the  popular  opera,  an  excellent  institution,  does 
not  seem  to  attract  the  wage-earner,  hut  has  become 
rather  the  resort  of  the  middle  class. 

The  low-priced  vaudeville  theatre  is  generally  a poor’, 
and  often  a vile  place  of  amusement.  There  are  good 
vaudeville  theatres,  but  these  are  not  intended  for  the 
working  people.  Keith’s  theatres  in  Boston  and  Xew 
York  are  an  example.  The  pei-formers  are  instructed 
to  cut  out  of  their  parts  anything  suggestive  or  indeli- 
cate, under  penalty  of  an  immediate  cancellation  of  the 
engagement.  As  a consequence,  Keith’s  theatres  are 
known  to  the  “ profession  ” as  the  “ Simday-school 
route.”  As  another  consequence,  they  are  good  places 
of  amusement.  Unhappily,  they  are  not  frequented 
by  the  jDeople  that  most  need  them.  The  bulk  of  the 
attendance  is  made  up  of  the  thrifty  middle  class ; the 
poorer  people  do  not  attend  except  as  an  occasional 
luxury.  The  reason  is  that  they  are  not  expected  to 
come,  and  they  know  it.  Prices  are  not  absolutely 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


169 


prohibitive ; indeed,  they  may  be  but  a fraction  above 
what  they  are  in  a lower  class  theatre  in  the  next 
block,  but  a sense  of  the  fitness  of  things,  if  not  of 
personal  inclination,  keeps  the  laboring  man  from 
going  to  any  one  of  these  higher  class  vaudeville 
theatres. 

The  Haymai’ket  Theatre  of  Chicago  is  a possible 
illustration  of  a popular  vaudeville  theatre  of  the 
better  class.  The  seats  cost  anywhere  from  ten  to 
thirty  cents,  and  the  average  attendance  is  four  thou- 
sand, of  which  fifteen  hundred  are  men.  The  pro- 
gramme includes  acrobats  and  trained  animals,  the 
funny  man  and  the  kinetoscope,  the  cake  walk,  coon 
songs,  and  the  “ comedy  skits.”  There  is  nothing  to 
hurt  in  all  this,  for  if  the  jokes  are  stale  they  are  not 
bad,  and  the  whole  performance  is  well  above  the  aver- 
age. The  working  girls  crowd  the  matinees,  and  on 
Sundays  the  boys  take  their  bread  and  butter  and 
“camp  out”  all  day.  Of  this  theatre  it  may  be  said 
that  it  does  a minimum  of  harm  even  if  it  does  not  do 
much  good. 

But  the  vaudeville  theatres  to  which  women  resort 
in  any  numbers  are  very  few.  This  is  of  itself  a suffi- 
cient index  to  their  general  character.  Investigation 
reveals  that  there  is  good  reason  for  their  absence.  It 
is  not  alone  that  smoking  and  drinking  are  often  per- 
mitted in  the  cheap  vaudeville  houses ; indeed,  it  is 
doubtful  if  these  privileges  are  often  abused,  for  here 
the  main  thing  is  the  play,  and  not  the  drink.  The 
drinking  is  an  accommodation  to  the  patron,  not  a 
source  of  gain  to  the  proprietor.  The  man  who  has 
paid  his  dime  or  his  quarter  for  the  show  wants  the 


170 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


show ; the  rest  is  an  incident.  It  is  the  character  of 
the  show,  then,  that  accounts  for  the  absence  of  women. 
Even  here  there  is  possibly  something  favorable  to  he 
said.  Take  the  matter  of  stage  dress.  We  may  have 
our  own  theories  of  what  it  ought  to  be.  That  does 
not  prove,  however,  that  if  the  costumes  do  not  corre- 
spond to  our  sense  of  propriety,  they  are  therefore 
necessarily  immoral  in  their  effect  on  others.  Again, 
because  the  language  is  not  refined,  it  does  not  follow 
that  the  results  are  altogether  demoralizing.  It  is 
probably  true  that  the  ears  that  hear  are  accustomed 
to  much  worse  than  the  theatre  affords,  and  pass  it  by 
without  much  thought,  looking  for  something  novel 
to  interest  and  fasten  the  attention.^  Within  limits, 
then,  a performance  could  shock  a finer  sensibility, 
and  still  do  no  appreciable  added  harm  to  those  that 
witness  it.  But  in  freeing  such  theatres  from  one 
indictment,  we  have  only  brought  upon  them  another. 
If  such  performances  do  not  debase,  they  certainly  do 
not  uplift.  Instead  of  directing  the  thoughts,  as  they 
easily  might,  to  what  is  at  least  wholesome  and  novel, 
they  select  that  which  of  all  else  most  needs  to  be  for- 
gotten, and  thus  give  the  mind  no  freedom,  and  off’er 
it  no  outlet  into  the  freshness  and  vigor  of  new  life. 
This  is  the  sin  of  such  performances  as  are  not  posi- 
tively and  grossly  degrading. 

The  programme  will  begin,  for  example,  with  a gayly 
costumed  “ Burletta,”  or  operetta.  It  is  entitled  “ A 
Tenderloin  Soiree.”  It  represents  a midnight  banquet, 
followed  by  a masked  ball,  with  much  drinking  and 
singing  and  gambling,  culminating  in  a grand  raid  by 
1 From  the  Philadelphia  report. 


INDOOB,  AMUSEMENTS. 


171 


the  police.  Following  this  comes  the  “ polite  ” or  up-to- 
date  vaudeville  part  of  the  programme.  Now  the  con- 
tortionists, the  jugglers,  the  Irish  comedians,  the  skirt 
dancers,  the  solo  singers  appear.  Sometimes  the  acro- 
bats do  well ; the  singers  and  comedians  are  invariably 
the  worst  part  of  the  programme.  They  are  unac- 
countably coarse,  and  sometimes  vile  in  their  parts. 
If  a prizefighter  is  not  on  hand  to  punch  the  bag,  or 
to  spar  with  a “ partner,”  the  vitascope  will  reproduce 
the  last  great  fight.  A year  or  so  ago,  living  pictures 
would  have  been  represented.  Occasionally  they  are 
still  seen,  with  spicy  dialogues  as  interludes.  A comedy 
sketch  is  an  invariable  feature,  which  usually  harps  on 
family  quarrels  and  divorce  suits,  and  only  rarely 
touches  on  a real  bit  of  human  sentiment.  The  per- 
formance concludes  with  a burlesque  or  extravaganza, 
in  which  the  whole  company  appears  in  Amazon  marches 
and  dances,  culminating  in  a grand  chorus,  with  calcium- 
light  effect  and  the  curtain.  Now,  in  all  of  this  there 
may  have  been  nothing  which  could  he  specifically  desig- 
nated as  thoroughly  bad,  but  the  whole  performance  has 
been  upon  a low  level.  The  enjoyment,  if  such  it  may 
he  called,  has  been  of  a sad  and  dull  kind.  There  has 
been  no  relief  from  the  ordinary,  the  lower  preoccupa- 
tion of  the  mind. 

But  even  here  the  limit  has  not  been  reached,  for 
where  the  civic  conscience  or  police  regulation  does  not 
prohibit,  some  of  these  variety  theatres  are  constant 
offenders  against  ordinary  decency.  They  will  go  just 
as  far  as  the  law  allows,  and  need  watching  all  the  time 
that  they  go  no  further.  Songs  and  dialogues  and 
pantomimes  are  full  of  the  vilest  innuendo,  and  that  of 


172 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


a dead  and  nasty  kind.  There  is  no  attempt  at  wit. 
When  women  performers  share  with  the  men  in  offer- 
ing this  kind  of  entertainment,  the  effect  is  unspeak- 
ably disgusting.  The  spectators,  as  a rule,  maintain 
a sullen  silence,  only  now  and  then  interrupted  by  a 
hoarse  laugh.  On  the  whole  a bar-room  would  offer  a 
welcome  escape  from  such  performances  as  these,  which 
are  not  by  any  means  uncommon.  In  some  theatres 
they  are  the  rule.  The  sad  thing  about  all  this  is  that 
the  number  of  variety  theatres  is  on  the  increase,  and 
because  of  their  low  prices  thousands  of  the  wage- 
earners  of  our  cities  who  most  need  decent  and  helpful 
recreation  attend  places  where  they  cannot  find  much 
that  is  good  and  are  pretty  sure  to  get  a good  deal  that 
is  bad. 

Another  cause  for  discouragement  when  one  is  con- 
sidering the  theatre  as  an  amusement  centre  for  the 
wage-earner  is  the  gradual  decline  of  the  melodrama. 
The  melodrama  may  have  its  inherent  defects  as  a dra- 
matic composition,  but  its  total  effect  upon  its  hearers 
is,  on  the  whole,  above  criticism.  It  bears  the  Aristo- 
telian test  of  purging  the  passions.  It  sets  things 
morally  in  their  right  relations.  Evil  is  never  so  black, 
good  never  so  alluring,  as  in  the  melodrama.  The  fact 
that  the  plays  are  sensational  amounts  to  nothing.  It 
is  a sensation  that  those  want  and  need  who  come 
there.  True  the  sensation  might  be  a better  one,  but 
still  it  is  on  the  whole  a good  one,  and  often  the  play 
presents  a very  decided  and  unusual  ethical  lesson. 
Take,  for  example,  the  celebrated  Irish  play  of  “ Kerry 
Gow.”  All  the  characters  of  the  stereotyped  Irish  play 
are  present,  — the  poor  blacksmith  lover,  the  sweet-faced 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


173 


heroine,  the  villain  who  forecloses  the  mortgage  upon 
the  farm  of  the  heroine’s  father,  the  even  lower  villain 
who  hides  weapons  in  the  blacksmith’s  forge,  so  that  the 
hero  may  be  arrested  upon  a charge  which,  if  proved, 
means  death.  Other  plays  are  the  “ Knobs  of  Tennes- 
see,” “ Arizona,”  “ Human  Hearts,”  “ Piney  Ridge.” 
The  time  was  when  the  theatre  presenting  such  plays  was 
the  people’s  theatre.  It  would  be  crowded  nightly  with 
men  and  boys  as  well  as  women,  who  were  as  ready  to 
hiss  the  villain  and  applaud  the  hero  as  if  they  had  not 
done  so  a hundred  times  before.  Unhappily  that  day 
seems  to  be  passing,  if  indeed  it  is  not  already  gone. 
Theatre  proprietors  say  that  the  people  do  not  want 
such  plays  any  longer.  Probably  the  influence  of  the 
higher  grade  theatres  has  made  itself  felt  for  the  worse. 
Possibly  it  is  simply  a temporary  fluctuation  in  the 
theatre  market.  At  any  rate,  the  melodrama  does  not 
occupy,  for  whatever  reason,  the  place  it  did  a few 
years  ago,  and  the  change  has  been  decidedly  for  the 
worse.  In  Boston,  the  Grand  Dime,  which  for  years 
offered  melodrama,  has  introduced  vaudeville  numbers. 
In  New  York,  the  Star  Theatre  is  the  only  one  that 
still  clings  to  melodrama,  and  there  the  prices  are 
twenty-five  and  fifty  cents.  In  Buffalo,  the  Lyceum 
Theatre  keeps  a list  of  standard  plays  running,  but  it 
is  the  only  one  of  its  kind  in  the  city.  In  Chicago,  the 
Bijou  advertises  widely,  draws  large  houses,  and  offers, 
as  a rule,  good  plays.  The  Academy  of  Music  is  on  a 
lower  plane.  In  San  Francisco,  the  tendency  away 
from  melodrama  is  seen  in  the  change  that  has  over- 
taken Morosco’s  Grand  Opera  House.  For  four  years 
it  was  the  favorite  and  crowded  resort  of  the  working 


174 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


people.  Melodrama,  without  a break,  held  the  stage, 
and  the  Opera  House,  which  is  the  largest  in  the  city, 
was  of  more  importance  than  all  the  theatres  in  the  city 
are  now.  At  the  recent  change  to  grand  and  comic 
opera  — a point  in  itself  worth  noticing  — the  old 
“ Morosco  audience,”  which  had  wept  and  hissed  and 
laughed  at  melodrama  so  long,  drifted  away,  and  now 
most  of  them  are  probably  breathing  tobacco  smoke  at 
the  Orpheum.i  Denver,  Minneapolis,  Cleveland,  At- 
lanta, all  report  at  least  one  theatre ' where  melodrama 
still  thrives ; and  wherever  it  lives  and  holds  true  to  its 
purpose,  it  is  doing  more  to  furnish  good  amusement 
for  the  people  than  all  the  rest  of  the  theatres  in  the 
city  combined. 

No  more  interesting  experiment  has  been  made  of 
late  years  in  the  theatrical  world  than  that  of  offering 
the  standard  operas  at  popular  prices.  The  idea  origi- 
nated at  the  Castle  Square  Theatre  in  Boston,  proved 
an  immediate  success,  continued  for  two  years,  and  was 
the  beginning  of  similar  experiments  in  Chicago  and 
New  York.  Both  the  orchestra  and  the  singers,  a stock 
company  of  about  fifty  members,  were  good.  The 
operas  were  selected  from  among  the  French  and  even 
German  classics.  Nothing  more  desirable  could  be 
imagined  than  that  twenty-five  cents  should  admit  one  to 
a performance  of  the  “ Bohemian  Girl,”  “ Faust,”  “ Fra 
Diavolo,”  or  “ The  Huguenots.”  Such  was  the  original 
intention  of  the  projector  of  the  enterprise,  whose  sole 
object  was  not  financial  profit.  Still  from  a pecuniary 
point  of  view  the  experiment  has  proved  successful. 
Chicago  and  New  York  both  report  crowded  houses  and 

1 From  tte  San  Francisco  report. 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


175 


much  appreciation  upon  the  part  of  the  general  public. 
But  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  musical  education  of 
the  people  has  not  as  yet  proceeded  far  enough  to  make 
even  excellent  music  of  this  type  alluring  to  the  work- 
ingman. It  has  seemed  to  appeal  to  those  who  have 
already  some  musical  taste,  not  to  those  who  most  need 
it.  The  audiences,  as  a rule,  are  composed  of  a class 
better  than  one  would  expect  to  find  at  performances 
charging  so  little.  Having  come  then  upon  an  excel- 
lent thing,  we  find  that  our  constituency  has  slipped 
away.  The  rate  of  admission,  character  of  the  enter- 
tainment, the  fine  exterior  and  appointments,  and  the 
higher  class  of  patronage  all  have  something  to  do 
with  the  absence  of  the  working  people.  This  is  true 
even  of  the  Tivoli  Opera  House  of  San  Francisco, 
which  presents  good  grand  and  comic  operas  and  per- 
mits smoking  and  drinking  between  acts.  Evidently 
good  music  as  yet  has  not  succeeded  in  solving  our 
problem. 

The  problem,  that  is  to  say,  has  not  been  solved,  and 
the  theatre  to-day  is  an  educational  or  helpful  centre 
of  amusement  for  only  the  merest  fraction  of  the  wage- 
earners  of  our  great  cities.  The  question  arises.  How  can 
a theatre  be  made  in  a true  sense  the  people’s  theatre, 
a theatre,  that  is,  “ where  the  different  elements  whose 
union  constitutes  society  can  all  attend,  and  in  the  re- 
presentations of  which  they  can  all  be  equally  inter- 
ested ? ” Not  so  long,  this  much  is  certain,  as  it  is  con- 
trolled by  syndicates  or  by  private  capital  which  has  an 
eye  solely  to  profits.  If  the  interests  which  at  present 
control  the  theatres  of  the  country  cannot  take  a 
broader  view  of  their  opportunity,  then  the  work  must 


176 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


be  taken  up  either  as  a philanthropic  or  as  a municipal 
enterprise.  The  project  of  a “ model  theatre  ” has  been 
often  exploited  on  paper,  occasionally  attempted  wdth 
melancholy  results,  and  always  declared  to  be  a thor- 
oughly hopeless  proposal.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  how- 
ever, that  in  France  we  have  the  beginnings  of  a real 
people’s  theatre.  It  is  possible  that  this  recent  ex- 
periment may  have  far-reaching  results.  It  is  thus 
described  by  Mr.  A.  F,  Sanborn  : ^ — 

In  September,  1892,  on  the  occasion  of  the  centenary 
of  the  republic,  a free,  open-air,  popular  representation 
of  Moliere’s  “ Medecin  Malgre  Lui  ” was  given  at 
Bussang,  a village  in  the  east  of  France,  very  near  the 
Alsatian  frontier,  by  M.  Maurice  Pottecher,  a native 
of  Bussang,  and  a number  of  his  friends.  The  per- 
formance was  so  much  appreciated  that  M.  Pottecher, 
who  had  long  been  dreaming  of  a theatre  of  tbe  peo- 
ple, set  vigorously  to  work  to  make  his  dream  come 
true.  Three  years  later  the  Theatre  du  Peuple  of 
Bussang  was  inaugurated  by  the  performance  of  a 
play  from  M.  Pottecher ’s  pen,  entitled  “ Le  Diable 
Marchand  de  Goutte,”  — which  may  be  translated, 
“ The  Devil,  Dramseller,”  — depicting  the  horrid  con- 
trol of  alcohol  on  the  one  hand  and  the  power  to  over- 
ride this  control,  on  the  other.  “ The  theatre  was 
simple.  A huge  scaffolding  of  wood  decorated  with 
greenery  served  as  stage,  and  two  enormous  sliding 
panels  as  curtain ; the  turf  of  a meadow  as  stage 
floor,  a sun-illumined  mountain  as  background,  and 
rows  of  planks  nailed  to  stakes  as  seats  for  a part  of 
the  spectators,  the  rest  standing  behind  the  benches 
1 New  York  Weekly  Post,  Wednesday,  July  11,  1900. 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


177 


in  a grassy  field.  The  cast  consisted  of  a score  or  more 
of  persons,  among  them  a clerk,  some  college  stu- 
dents, a professor,  a manufacturer,  a gardener,  and  a 
councilor  - general.  There  was  no  painted  scenery. 
Admission  was  free,  the  expenses  being  defrayed  by 
a rich  individual.  The  audience  numbered  nearly  two 
thousand.  Thus  dedicated,  the  theatre  has  continued 
to  prosper.” 

The  gratuitous  performances  are  invariably  given  on 
Sundays  or  fete  days,  when  the  working  people  are  at 
leisure.  The  patrons  of  the  performances  to  which 
admission  is  charged  feel  themselves  collaborators  in 
the  enterprise.  The  performers  all  serve  without  pay, 
and  all  belong  to  the  region,  either  by  birth  or  adop- 
tion. They  continue  to  represent  different  social 
grades  and  many  trades  and  professions,  it  being  a 
pet  theory  of  M.  Pottecher,  as  it  was  a pet  theory  of 
Michelet,  that  the  mingling  of  classes  on  the  stage  is 
as  essential  to  a real  popular  theatre  as  the  mingling 
of  classes  in  the  audience.  They  are  encouraged  to 
act  naturally,  to  render,  in  the  main,  their  own  concep- 
tions of  their  parts  in  their  own  ways. 

Here,  then,  is  a practical  experiment,  the  success  of 
which  has  already  been  tested.  There  seems  to  be  no 
good  reason  why  similar  experiments  should  not  be 
attempted  in  our  American  towns  and  cities.  Let 
there  be  a real  school  for  dramatic  art  similar  to  Mr. 
Frank  Damrosch’s  classes  for  the  musical  education 
of  the  people  in  New  York.  The  instruction  should  be 
free,  being  provided  for  either  by  private  philanthropy 
or  by  the  municipality.  Then  let  playwrights  be  in- 
vited to  submit  dramas,  upon  the  lines  laid  down  by 


178 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


M.  Pottecher,  for  production,  the  selection  to  be  made 
by  a boai-d  of  eminent  dramatic  critics.  For  represen- 
tation any  theatre  centrally  located  could  be  chosen 
until  the  experiment  had  proceeded  far  enough  to 
warrant  the  erection  of  a building  to  be  devoted  solely 
to  this  purpose.  Thus  a real  people’s  theatre  would  be 
inaugurated  and  the  experiment  is  certainly  weU  worth 
the  trying.  The  simplicity  of  the  theatre,  the  senti- 
ment of  democracy  which  would  pervade  the  perform- 
ance, the  fact  that  the  actors  would  come  from  the 
people  themselves,  that  the  play  would  turn  upon  some 
event  of  national  or  local  interest,  that  admission  would 
be  gratuitous  for  those  who  could  not  afEord  to  pay, 
would  all  contribute  to  the  success  of  the  plan.  The 
elements  for  a successful  solution  of  the  pi’oblem  are 
then  at  hand.  When  one  considers  the  present  condition 
of  our  theatres  and  the  crying  needs  of  the  people  for 
recreation  of  a true  sort,  it  seems  as  if  it  could  not  be 
long  before  some  real  attempt  be  made  in  our  country 
towards  the  establishment  of  a people’s  theatre. 

An  interesting  illustration  of  the  possibility  of 
popular  entertainments  under  municipal  contract  is 
furnished  by  the  Peoples’  Concerts  given  in  Boston 
under  Mayor  Quincy’s  administration.  A music  com- 
mission was  appointed,  and  to  the  original  plan  was 
added  the  giving  of  free  chamber  concerts  in  different 
sections  of  the  city,  for  w’hich  purpose  citizens  offered 
their  halls  free  of  charge.  The  public  concerts  at 
Music  Hall  were  a gTeat  success.  The  programmes 
consisted  of  orchestral  numbers  and  solos.  The  or- 
chestra was  known  as  the  Municipal  Band,  placed 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


179 


upon  a permanent  organization,  having  thirty-eight 
members.  These  received  four  dollars  for  each  per- 
formance and  the  leader,  ten  dollars.  On  one  even- 
ing the  following  numbers  were  executed:  Weber’s 
overture,  “ Oberon,”  Haydn’s  “ Surprise  Symphony,” 
Delibes’s  “Sylvia”  dances,  Wagner’s  “ Rienzi  ” over- 
ture, Gillet’s  “ Bonheur  Perdu,”  and  Brahms’s  Hun- 
garian dances.  In  conjunction  with  a large  chorus, 
directed  by  John  A.  O’Shea,  one  of  the  music  com- 
mission, three  selections  were  given  from  Gounod’s 
“ Redemption.”  The  music  commission  showed  con- 
siderable judgment  in  securing  for  the  solo  performers 
local  amateur  talent,  which  stimulated  appreciably  the 
interest.  Tickets  were  distributed  by  the  commission 
without  cost  through  the  different  benevolent  agencies 
to  those  who  wanted  them,  but  felt  unable  to  pay 
the  admission  price.  The  regular  admission  charge 
was  ten  cents,  which  proved  sufficient  to  pay  all  the 
costs  of  the  entertainments.  Public  schools  were  util- 
ized as  distributive  centres,  in  order  to  reach  all  who 
cared  to  attend.  Sunday  evening  was  chosen  as  the 
time  for  the  concerts.  There  was,  of  course,  some 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  choice. 
It  spared  the  concerts  from  coming  into  competition 
with  the  theatres  and  other  week-day  amusements, 
but  it  brought  them  into  conflict  not  only  with  the 
churches  but  with  the  home  gatherings  which  are  of 
usual  occurrence  on  Sunday  evenings  in  many  families. 
This  question  will  need  to  be  determined  by  local  con- 
ditions. 

Boston  has  also  taken  the  lead  among  our  American 
cities  in  making  another  most  important  provision  for 


180 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


the  indoor  amusement  of  the  people.  There  are  at 
present  at  least  four  municipal  gymnasiums  in  the 
city,  and  others  have  been  projected.  There  is  no  city 
without  its  gymnasium,  but  almost  invariably  it  is  the 
property  or  under  the  control  of  an  organization  or 
society,  so  that  directly  or  indirectly  it  is  not  available 
for  many  who  care  to  use  it.  The  Turn  Verein,  the 
Young  Men’s  Christian  Association,  a few  churches 
and  clubs  have  gymnasiums,  but  their  use  is  confined 
to  a very  limited  constituency.  Consequently  thousands 
of  men  and  boys  are  without  athletic  exercise  and 
recreation  which  they  earnestly  desire. 

Some  years  ago  the  East  Boston  Athletic  Association 
was  started  by  a wealthy  woman  living  on  the  Back  Bay. 
An  old  skating-rink  was  bought  and  made  over  into  a 
modern  gymnasium.  In  addition  there  were  bicycle, 
reading  and  loafing  rooms  with  a “bar,”  where  soft 
drinks  were  for  sale.  A paid  superintendent  had 
charge  of  the  building  and  of  the  athletic  classes.  The 
association  had  a prosperous  career,  and  offered  the 
best  kind  of  recreation,  summer  and  winter  alike,  to 
from  four  to  five  hundred  members.  The  fee  was  five 
dollars  a year  for  full  membership,  and  the  place 
became  a favorite  resort  for  clerks,  mechanics,  and 
others  who  could  afford  to  pay  the  annual  dues.  Such 
financial  assistance  as  it  received  from  its  founder  was 
kept  sufficiently  in  the  background  to  relieve  it  of 
the  stisfma  of  bein^  a charitable  institution.  The  rules 
prohibited  liqxxor  di’inking  in  any  form,  vulgar  and 
profane  langxxage,  and  the  use  of  tobacco  within  the 
building.  The  association  was  an  xmqualified  success. 
This  experiment  can  be  repeated  at  any  time  by  the  oxxt- 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


181 


lay  of  the  necessary  money  to  secure  a building  and 
the  services  of  a competent  superintendent.  But  in 
1897  a change  was  made.  The  building  was  presented 
to  the  city  and  thrown  open  to  the  general  public.  It 
was  Boston’s  first  Municipal  Gymnasium.  Changes 
were  made,  new  apparatus  was  added.  “ The  main 
hall  is  one  hundred  feet  long  and  eighty  wide,  and  is 
well  supplied  with  gymnastic  apparatus.  One  corner 
may  be  shut  off  by  movable  partitions  for  hand-ball. 
A running-track  with  twenty  laps  to  the  mile  is  marked 
off  on  the  floor,  and  across  one  end  of  the  room  is  a 
gallery  for  spectators.  In  the  bathing  department, 
there  are  eleven  sprays  with  the  necessary  dressing 
quarters  and  lockers.  Two  days  a week  the  entire 
building  is  reserved  for  the  exclusive  use  of  women 
and  girls.”  ^ Thus  the  gymnasium  is  doing  the  largest 
possible  service.  The  first  year  that  it  was  under  the 
management  of  the  city  its  gross  attendance  during  ten 
months  was  65,000,  or  four  times  the  number  that  had 
visited  it  while  it  was  under  private  control.  As  for 
the  good  effect  of  this  institution  upon  the  neighbor- 
hood, we  have  the  statement  of  the  police  of  East 
Boston,  who  say  that  since  the  opening  of  the  gymna- 
sium, there  has  been  a marked  diminution  of  lawless- 
ness. The  local  school  principal  gives  emphatic 
testimony  as  to  its  influence  upon  children,  and  the 
disappearance  of  a number  of  low-toned  social  clubs 
suggests  its  importance  as  a rendezvous  for  young 
men. 

In  South  Boston  is  another  gymnasium  even  larger 
and  more  complete  than  the  one  in  East  Boston.  “ The 

1 From  the  Boston  report. 


182 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


Soutli  Boston  gymnasium  and  bath  was  erected  by  the 
city  a year  ago.  The  structure  is  of  wood,  seventy- 
five  by  one  hundred  feet,  in  the  English  Gothic  style 
of  architecture.  An  elevated  running-track  extends 
around  the  interior.  All  the  gymnastic  apparatus  is  so 
arranged  that  it  can  easily  be  drawn  up  or  pushed 
aside,  leaving  the  floor  entirely  free  from  obstruction. 
There  are  twelve  hundred  lockers  and  eighteen  spray 
baths.  A swimming-tank  under  a separate  roof  is  a 
part  of  the  original  plan.”  This  gymnasium  is  lo- 
cated in  a most  needy  section.  Five  years  ago.  South 
Boston  had  practically  no  saloon  substitutes.  To-day 
the  gymnasium  and  the  baths  offer,  winter  and  summer, 
most  wholesome  and  popular  centres  of  recreation. 

Two  more  gymnasiums  with  baths  are  owned  by  the 
city  and  are  fully  equipped.  One  of  these  presents  a 
most  Christian  spectacle.  Until  very  recently,  it  was 
a Protestant  chapel.  Its  constituency  moved  away  and 
its  windows  became  a convenient  target  for  Catholic 
and  Hebrew  children.  Then  the  building  was  sold  to 
the  city,  which  took  the  pews  out  and  put  up  chest 
weights  in  their  place.  When  the  doors  were  opened 
recently  to  admit  visitors,  the  boys  crowded  eagerly  in, 
and  dumb-bells,  clubs,  and  flying  rings  were  soon  in 
active  service.  If  our  deserted  downtown  churches  and 
chapels  could  be  turned  to  such  uses,  there  would  be 
less  reason  to  lament  their  abandonment  for  religious 
ends. 

Siich,  then,  are  Boston’s  municipal  gymnasiums. 
The  remarkable  thing  is  that  they  are  about  the  only 
ones  of  their  kind  in  the  country.  Inquiry  has  failed 
to  reveal  anything  similar  in  any  of  the  cities  selected 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


183 


for  this  investigation,  and  yet  the  expense  is  compara- 
tively small  and  the  benefits  immeasurably  great.  A 
substantial  and  roomy  gymnasium  can  be  erected  and 
equipped  for  $20,000,  and  the  running  expenses  are 
very  light.  The  benefits  of  such  popular  institutions 
are  beyond  exact  computation.  Aside  from  what  they 
are  doing  to  promote  public  health,  they  are  a powerful 
aid  to  sobriety,  and  even  to  total  abstinence.  A young 
man  “ in  training  ” will  cheerfully  deny  himself  his 
glass  of  beer.  The  economic  gain  in  industrial  capacity 
has  been  estimated  mathematically  by  competent  inves- 
tigators.^ Sir  Edwin  Chadwick  declared  it  to  be 
“ established  that  for  all  ordinary  civil  labor  four 
partially  trained  or  drilled  men  are  as  efficient  as  five 
who  are  undrilled.  In  other  words,  considering  the 
child  as  an  investment,  for  a trifling  expense  . . . the 
productive  power  of  that  investment  may,  by  physical 
training,  be  augmented  by  one  fifth  for  the  whole  period 
of  working  ability.”  Whatever  truth  there  may  be  in 
this  computation,  there  can  be  no  denial  of  the  social, 
moral,  and  economic  gain  in  the  vicinity  where  these 
gymnasiums  are  located.  It  may  be  said,  in  passing, 
that  no  opposition  to  the  establishment  of  such  enter- 
prises by  the  city  need  be  feared  from  the  liquor  men. 
So  long  as  their  traffic  is  not  interfered  with  they  are 
very  friendly.  An  alderman,  himself  the  proprietor  of 
two  popular  saloons,  was  largely  instrumental  in  secur- 
ing the  gymnasium  in  South  Boston,  and  is  still  its 
stanch  supporter. 

In  closing  this  chapter,  one  other  method  of  enter- 
taining the  people  during  the  winter  months  may  be 
^ The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Reform,  p.  404. 


184 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


mentioned,  although  it  is  not  evident  that  the  plan  could 
he  transported  from  its  native  soil  to  our  American 
cities.  Every  one  knows  of  the  East  London  Peo- 
ple’s Palace  or  Social  Institute,  in  which  varied  forms 
of  amusement  and  healthful  recreation  are  provided. 
It  is  a combination  of  art  gallery,  concert  hall,  mu- 
seum, and  social  club,  in  which  all  sorts  and  condi- 
tions of  men  can  spend  their  spare  time  with  interest 
and  profit.  This  plan  has  spread  to  the  Provinces  and 
to  Scotland,  where  some  of  the  most  interesting  exam- 
ples of  them  are  to  be  found.  The  People’s  Palace  of 
Glasgow,  for  example,^  is  maintained  by  the  city  for  the 
benefit  of  the  working  people.  “ The  general  idea  is  ^ 
that  the  permanent  collections  to  be  formed  should 
relate  to  the  history  and  industries  of  the  city,  and 
that  some  space  shoidd  be  set  apart  for  special  sectional 
exhibitions  to  be  held  from  time  to  time.  . . . One 
element  of  originality  in  the  way  of  municipal  enter- 
prise that  can  be  claimed  for  this  institution  lies  in 
the  combination  practically  under  one  roof  of  a mu- 
seum, picture  gallery,  winter  garden,  and  concert  haU.” 
In  a statement  furnished  the  authors  of  the  volume 
from  which  the  quotation  is  taken,  made  in  December, 
1898,  the  curator  of  the  Palace  said  that  the  success  of 
the  institution  had  been  very  remarkable.  In  the  even- 
ings especially  the  building  became  so  crowded  that 
the  entrance  door  had  to  be  closed  for  intervals.  In 
ten  months,  more  than  750,000  people  visited  the  Pal- 
ace. He  attributes  its  extraordinary  success  to  its 
proximity  to  some  of  the  crowded  parts  of  the  city, 

^ The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Beform,  p.  395. 

^ Glasgow  Herald,  January  24,  1898. 


INDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


185 


to  the  attractiveness  of  the  building  itself  and  the 
grounds  surrounding  it,  and  to  the  fact  that  art  and 
historical  collections  do  appeal  to  the  interest  and  the 
imagination  of  the  people. 

The  suggestion  contained  in  this  experiment,  of 
which  use  might  be  made  in  our  American  cities,  is 
the  free  use,  for  purposes  of  popular  education  and 
amusement,  of  art  galleries  and  historical  and  antiqua- 
rian museums.  The  art  galleries  have  begun  already 
to  loan  their  pictures  for  popular  exhibitions,  but  no 
one  can  have  j^assed  through  any  of  our  fine  museums, 
as,  for  example,  the  rooms  of  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society,  without  regretting  that  more  of  the 
laboring  people  do  not  have  the  opportunity  or  inclina- 
tion to  see  these  historical  relics  relating  to  the  history 
of  our  country  and  of  this  Commonwealth.  To  carry 
out  this  plan,  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  a commo- 
dious building  or  hall,  where  accommodation  could  be 
provided  for  periodical  loan  exhibitions  of  art,  antiqui- 
ties, industries,  and  inventions.  To  make  this  attractive, 
a stereo pticon  lecture  or  a free  concert  could  be  added, 
the  hall  to  be  thrown  open  each  night  during  the 
winter,  with  constant  changes  of  exhibit.  In  Glasgow, 
at  least,  the  experiment  has  been  successful,  and  social 
settlements  in  our  own  country  have  demonstrated  on 
a small  scale  the  feasibility  and  benefits  of  the  plan. 

Our  inquiry  into  the  possible  indoor  amusements  for 
the  working  people  during  the  winter  months  brings  us 
back,  with  an  added  sense  of  disappointment,  to  actual 
conditions.  The  saloon,  the  dance  hall,  and  the  cheap 
theatre  are  to-day  their  chief  centres  of  amusement. 


186 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


The  first  is  pernicious  ; the  other  two,  as  they  exist,  are 
at  least  questionable  in  their  influence.  Of  reading- 
rooms  there  are  only  a few  ; of  gymnasiums,  the  num- 
ber is  still  less.  What  wonder  if,  during  the  months 
when  the  streets  and  tbe  parks  are  not  habitable,  the 
saloons  are  crowded  with  hosts  of  men  and  boys,  for 
where  else  shall  they  go  for  amusement  ? 


CHAPTER  Vm. 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 

For  the  boy  or  man  who  lives  in  the  country,  the 
problem  of  outdoor  amusements  practically  solves  itself. 
In  the  city  it  is  different.  However,  what  men  think 
a town  ought  to  be,  it  will  be,  and  they  can  crowd  the 
people  into  unwholesome  slums,  or  open  up  parks  and 
playgrounds,  and  make  it  a city  of  homes,  not  alone 
for  the  wealthy  few,  but  for  the  masses  whose  need  of 
comfort  and  recreation  we  have  discussed.  The  diffi- 
culty of  furnishing  outdoor  amusement  for  the  people 
of  a large  city  is  understood  when,  for  instance,  we 
remember  that  the  roofs  of  Greater  New  York  are  said 
to  furnish  more  space  than  the  city  streets  and  court- 
yards. The  height  of  the  buildings  suggests  how  many 
come  from  under  one  roof.  The  question  with  which 
we  are  now  concerned  is.  Where  are  these  thousands 
of  people  to  find  outdoor  recreation  and  a “ cooling-off 
place  ” outside  of  the  beer  gardens  and  saloons  ? 

The  sights  and  sounds  of  the  streets  constitute  an 
important  part  of  the  recreative  resources  of  many 
crowded  districts.  Their  hold  upon  the  people  is  shown, 
not  only  by  the  sense  of  desolation  which  tenement 
children  feel  when  they  go  to  the  country,  but  by  the 
hesitancy  of  their  elders  to  remove  to  the  suburbs. 
The  patrol  wagon,  the  fire  engine,  the  ambulance,  the 
general  passing  show,  and  even  the  rows  of  shops  en- 


188 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


liven  the  monotony  of  an  existence  in  which  wholesome 
amusement  is  sadly  lacking.  The  streets  are  the  prome- 
nade of  the  teeming  thousands  of  pedestrians  who,  on 
Sunday,  at  least,  have  time  for  a walk,  and  they  are 
the  rendezvous  of  teams  and  push-cart  venders. 

The  streets  are  the  playground  of  the  children  of  the 
city’s  poor.  Where  else  can  they  spin  their  tops  and 
play  marbles?  Baseball  is  played  in  season  and  out 
of  season,  and  until  late  at  night,  boy  sentinels  being 
placed  at  the  corners  to  give  warning  of  the  policeman’s 
approach.  Froebel  said,  “ It  is  through  his  play  that 
a child  first  begins  to  perceive  moral  relations.”  The 
playtime  of  a child’s  life  should  not  be  tolerated  by 
those  older  than  himself,  but  made  the  most  of.  The 
street  is  a poor  means  to  accomplish  this.  Knowing 
that  he  is  a public  nuisance,  the  boy  is  constantly  on 
the  lookout  for  the  “ cop,”  and  as  constantly  planning 
to  get  the  better  of  him.  The  treatment  he  receives 
from  the  passing  throng  only  serves  to  make  him  ugly 
and  suspicious.  Another  habit  of  mind  altogether 
dangerous  to  his  proper  development  is  his  continual 
change  of  purpose.  Seldom  can  a project  be  carried 
out,  and  the  boy  grows  restless  and  inefficient.  Kot 
only  the  individual,  but  the  “ gang  ” suffers  for  lack  of 
a healthful  meeting-place.  The  spirit  of  loyalty  in  the 
“ gang  ” should  be  encouraged,  not  trained  by  an  oppos- 
ing force  to  deceit  and  viciousness. 

Numerous  suggestions  as  to  the  best  plan  of  pro- 
viding playgrounds  have  been  made.  The  late  Colonel 
Waring,  Street  Cleaning  Commissioner  of  New  York 
City,  proposed  a combination  of  push-cart  market  and 
children’s  playgrounds,  where  business  could  thrive  in 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


189 


the  morning,  and  fun  in  the  afternoon.  According  to 
this  plan,  the  city  is  to  own  the  markets,  whose  rents. 
Colonel  Waring  claimed,  would  soon  yield  interest 
on  and  eventually  the  return  of  the  capital  invested. 
There  is  no  argument  which  appeals  to  the  average 
tax-payer  and  city  comptroller  with  such  force  as  the 
argument  that  “ it  pays.”  The  opening  of  the  school 
yards  in  many  cities  during  the  summer  months  is  an 
advance  well  worth  noticing.  The  Massachusetts  Emer- 
gency and  Hygiene  Association  has  under  its  super- 
vision in  Boston  many  sand  gardens,  which  are  located 
in  empty  school  yards.  It  is  the  plan  to  give  the 
children  not  only  a place  to  play,  but  trained  directors 
of  their  play.  Regulated  play  is  both  recreative  and 
educational,  and  while  children  are  getting  the  benefits 
of  exercise,  they  are  gaining  the  principles  of  order, 
decency,  and  fair  play.  In  the  summer  of  1898, 
eighteen  hundred  children  were  thus  provided  for  at 
an  expense  of  one  dollar  each.  One  suggestion  the 
association  makes  is  to  open  the  yards  only  when  there 
is  shade,  as  otherwise  the  children  do  not  come,  and 
this  arrangement  provides  teachers  for  more  of  them. 

There  are  many  reasons  for  working  with  the  chil- 
dren. They  are  willing  to  pass  their  knowledge  on. 
They  may  be  influenced  in  many  cases  when  it  seems 
almost  impossible  to  change  the  formed  character  of 
those  who  have  matured  in  an  atmosphere  of  squalor 
and  vice.  Again,  while  some  Americans  object  to 
expenditures  for  the  well-being  of  the  adult  population 
on  the  ground  that  it  is  socialistic,  they  are  ready  to 
listen  to  an  appeal  for  children.  It  is  a happy  thing 
for  the  children  of  New  York  that  the  Educational 


190 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


Alliance,  the  Park  Board,  the  Outdoor  Recreation 
League,  and  the  School  Board  have  met  on  common 
ground.  The  fact  that  they  have  all  worked  success- 
fully is  the  best  possible  evidence  of  the  rapidity  with 
which  the  spirit  of  liberty  and  progress  is  spreading. 
In  New  York,  the  law  forbids  a public  school  being 
erected  hencefoi-th  without  an  open-air  playground. 
Those  already  built  should  be  compelled  to  use  the 
roofs.  With  such  provision  there  will  be  less  truancy, 
less  lawlessness. 

New  sites  have  been  secured  for  playgrounds  in  the 
crowded  parts  of  New  York,  but  the  rubbish  heaps  are 
too  often  left,  and  the  transformation  from  tenements 
is  slow.  The  playground  at  Seward  Park  is  so  much 
appreciated  in  the  neighborhood,  that  the  people  of 
Hester  Street  rose  in  revolt  when  they  learned  that 
the  Park  Board  had  submitted  a plan  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  park  in  which  no  provision  was  made  for  a 
playground.  The  Outdoor  Recreation  League  has  been 
most  effective  in  impressing  the  Park  Department  with 
the  importance  of  retaining  the  playground  in  the  final 
seheme  of  improvement.  The  playgrounds  should  be 
free  to  parents  and  grandparents,  as  well  as  to  the  boys 
and  girls.  One  morning  a white-haired  man  looked 
on  wistfully  at  Dearborn  Yard,  and  said:  “It  does 
my  old  heart  good  to  see  the  children.  I wish  there 
was  a playground  for  old  men.”  There  would  be  if 
the  number  of  small  parks  in  the  crowded  districts  of 
the  cities  were  in  any  way  adequate  to  the  needs  of  the 
people. 

The  Massachusetts  Civic  League  has  made  an  ex- 
haustive study  of  the  playgrounds  of  Boston  and  its 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


191 


vicinity,  and  its  printed  report  contains  many  valuable 
suggestions.  An  examination  of  police  reports  has 
shown  that  the  effect  of  the  establishment  of  play- 
grounds is  diminution  of  juvenile  crime.  The  neces- 
sity for  instruction  in  games  has  been  demonstrated, 
and  it  has  been  proved  that  older  men  are  glad  to 
make  use  of  a well-ordered  playground.^ 

Reluctance  to  exercise  domain  as  against  the  inertia 
of  tenants,  interests  of  landholders,  profits  of  politi- 
cally influenced  saloon-keepers,  together  with  the  ex- 
pense of  buying  property,  have  prevented  a proper 
increase  of  parks  in  the  crowded  sections  of  some  of 
our  cities.  Private  philanthropy  would  arrange  to 
guard  these  places  were  it  backed  by  law.  The  re- 
demption of  Mulberry  Bend  by  Jacob  A.  Eiis  was  the 
beginning  and  remains  the  ideal  of  the  effort  to  pro- 
vide small  parks  in  crowded  districts.  “ From  almost 
every  point  of  view,  adequate  park  system  appears  to 
be  a city’s  gain.  It  creates  an  attraction  for  all  classes. 
It  adds  to  the  beauty  of  a city,  influences  those  who 
have  acquired  wealth  to  remain,  and  draws  others  to 
it.  It  cultivates  public  taste.  It  promotes  health.  It 
furnishes  fresher  air.  Its  trees  absorb  the  poisonous 
gases  and  purify  the  atmosphere.  It  extends  the 
opportunity  for  rational  enjoyment,  particularly  for 
the  children  of  the  poor.  The  exuberance  of  youth 
will  find  a vent,  innocent,  if  circumstances  favor, 
harmful  if  they  do  not.  Nor  must  the  value  of  open 
spaces  as  a quieting,  reformative  power  in  the  case  of 
adults  be  lost  sight  of.  It  is  recognized  that  whatever 

1 See  report  of  Mr.  Joseph  Lee,  Boston,  Secretary  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Civic  League. 


192 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


furnislies  innocent  recreation  and  amusement  exerts 
a potent  influence  in  checking  crime,  and  the  public 
square  and  playground  must  be  given  prominent  place 
among  the  agencies  favorably  affecting  the  moral  con- 
dition of  society.  Add  to  these  considerations  the 
unusually  permanent  value  of  this  form  of  investment, 
the  comparatively  little  management  it  requires,  its 
freedom  from  all  pauperizing  or  otherwise  objection- 
able influences,  and  you  have  assuredly  a form  of 
philanthropic  enterprise  deserving  the  earnest  and 
imdivided  efforts  of  an  association  with  no  other  pur- 
pose, and  the  cordial  support  of  every  public-spirited 
citizen.”  The  value  of  these  small  parks  as  direct 
substitutes  for  the  saloon  is  evident  when  we  consider 
what  they  might  offer  to  the  public : a meeting-place 
for  the  men  of  the  neighborhood,  seats  to  rest  on,  ice- 
water  fountains  to  drink  from,  free  band  concerts  and 
other  entertainments  now  and  then,  a spot  with  the 
social  intercourse  which  the  saloon  offers  and  the  cool- 
ness in  search  of  which  a man  often  leaves  his  home. 

Many  of  our  larger  parks  are  open  to  the  rich  and 
poor  alike,  and  do  they  not  go  far  to  satisfy  the  needs 
of  the  people  and  to  act  as  substitutes  for  the  saloon  ? 
They  no  doubt  do,  or  ought  to  do,  more  in  this  direc- 
tion than  any  other  one  thing.  An  example  of  muni- 
cipal parks  frequented  by  the  people  is  Golden  Gate 
Park  of  San  Francisco.  Golden  Gate  Park,  which  is 
noted  the  world  over  for  its  natural  scenery,  with  its 
own  wooded  acres,  the  great  stretches  of  wild  land  and 
the  long  beach  beyond,  is  situated  three  miles  from  the 
centre  of  the  city.  A five-ceut  fare  and  a half  hour’s 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


193 


time  takes  one  from  the  noise  and  distraction  of  the  one 
to  the  refreshing  rest  of  the  other.  The  beautiful  sur- 
roundings, the  luxurious  growth  of  flowers,  and  the 
sea  breeze  combine  to  make  the  place  by  its  very 
nature  a great  resort.  That  this  park  is  appreciated 
is  evident,  for  the  average  weekly  attendance  is  fifty 
thousand ; on  Sunday,  the  one  day  of  the  week  when 
workingmen  have  both  money  and  leisure,  it  is  from 
twenty-five  thousand  to  thirty-five  thousand,  and  the 
park’s  value  as  a saloon  substitute  is  more  manifest 
when  we  learn  that  it  is  the  only  place  of  amusement 
in  San  Francisco  which  is  over  one  hundred  yards 
from  a saloon,  and  that  the  saloons  are  open  on  Sun- 
day. There  are  many  attractions  besides  the  groves, 
flowers,  and  scenery.  Music,  a museum,  a conserva- 
tory, an  aviary,  zoological  garden,  recreation  grounds, 
speed  tracks,  drives,  and  walks  help  to  draw  the  peo- 
ple. On  Sunday  afternoon  from  two  to  four,  a band 
of  fifty  pieces  gives  a free  concert  to  an  audience  of 
ten  thousand  scattered  over  the  grounds  or  seated  in 
the  large  auditorium.  In  the  museum,  there  are  some- 
times as  many  as  three  thousand  people.  There  is  the 
greatest  freedom  allowed  in  the  park,  and  there  are 
no  “ Keep  off  the  Grass  ” signs.  Notwithstanding 
the  freedom,  the  police  report  very  little  disorder  and 
almost  no  drunkenness.  On  a fair  Sunday  there  are 
more  working  people  at  Golden  Gate  Park  than  there 
are  at  all  the  clubs,  reading-rooms,  and  benevolent  in- 
stitutions of  the  city  in  one  week.  This  great  gather- 
ing of  people  in  the  open  air  is  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  city,  with  its  streets  of  saloons  open  day  and 
night  the  year  round,  with  its  dreary  houses,  and  with 


194 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


the  constant  smell  and  suggestion  of  beer.  The  chief 
reason  for  the  success  of  Golden  Gate  Park  of  San 
Francisco  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  accessible,  and  that 
five  cents  covers  the  cost  of  reaching  and  entering  it. 
Few  busy  day  laborers,  and  that  is  what  most  men  are, 
have  time  to  go  to  the  parks  and  resorts  which  are  far 
from  their  homes  and  woi'k-rooms. 

The  magnificent  parks  of  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul 
are  distant  from  the  heart  of  either  city.  The  music 
provided  by  the  city  is  given  in  them.  White  Bear 
and  Minnetonka  lakes,  which  are  resorts  for  many 
business  and  professional  men,  are  beyond  the  reach 
of  by  far  the  larger  part  of  the  population.  The  fare 
from  St.  Paul  to  White  Bear  Lake  is  twenty-five 
cents ; from  Minneapolis  to  Minnetonka,  fifty  cents 
for  the  round  trip.  These  figures  are  reasonable,  but 
practically  prohibitive  to  the  man  who  earns  even  two 
dollars  a day.  It  is  true  in  this,  as  in  other  things, 
that  men  must  have  leisure  to  enjoy  the  outdoor  life 
and  the  pleasures  that  come  with  it.  Left  in  the  city, 
the  workingman,  if  he  be  without  other  resources,  is 
thrown  on  the  saloon  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  social 
instinct. 

Belle  Isle  Park  of  Detroit  is  a park  that  all  enjoy. 
The  beautiful  island  can  be  reached  from  almost  every 
part  of  the  city  for  a fare  of  three  cents,  and  all  of  the 
attractions  of  the  park  are  free  to  every  one.  The  pic- 
nic grounds,  woods,  and  bathing-houses  are  open  to 
rich  and  poor  alike,  and  make  it  truly  the  people’s  park. 
Beer  is  sold,  but  its  sale  is  so  restricted  as  to  make  in- 
toxication practically  impossible.  On  a pleasant  con- 
cert evening,  it  is  hard  to  count  the  people  who  crowd 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


195 


about  tbe  music  pavilion.  On  a holiday  in  winter, 
thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children  use  the  ice  on 
the  well-kept  artificial  lakes.  Here  is  the  man  who 
to-morrow  will  be  in  his  place  at  the  factory,  and  one 
day  of  healthful  bodily  exercise  and  the  vigor  gained 
from  a few  hours  spent  in  the  open  air  will  do  much 
both  for  him  and  for  his  work. 

Many  other  municipal  parks  could  be  mentioned  as 
going  far  to  solve  the  outdoor  problem.  Druid  Hill 
Park  of  Baltimore  is  one  which  people  from  all  parts 
of  the  city  frequent.  The  parks  of  Denver  are  pecul- 
iarly important,  since  outside  the  town  limits  there 
begins  the  brown,  sun-baked,  treeless  prairie.  At  City 
Park  the  right  to  let  boats,  and  the  commission  to  sell 
light  drinks  and  delicacies  in  the  two  pavilions  is  sold 
every  year  to  the  highest  bidder ; still  there  is  mnch 
that  is  free.  As  many  as  a hundred  and  fifty  free  con- 
certs have  been  given  there  in  a summer.  The  major- 
ity of  those  who  frequent  the  park  in  the  evening  or 
on  Sunday  are  of  the  poorer  people,  and  it  must  be  of 
untold  value  to  them,  for  not  only  are  they  offered  a 
cool  and  delightful  place  in  which  to  spend  their  time, 
but  amusement  impossible  to  find  elsewhere,  except 
at  considerable  expense.  In  trying  to  compete  with 
attractions  such  as  parks  furnish,  the  saloons  are  at  a 
disadvantage,  and  the  number  of  toughs  and  idlers, 
chronic  saloon  attendants,  who  frequent  the  parks,  tes- 
tify to  what  an  extent  their  patronage  must  suffer  in  con- 
sequence. It  may  be  argued  that  since  the  saloons  are 
closed  on  Sunday,  none  of  the  Sunday  patronage  of  the 
parks  can  be  said  to  detract  from  the  attendance  on  the 
saloons.  But  although  there  is  a Sunday  closing  ordi- 


196 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


nance  in  Denver,  it  is  not  rigorously  enforced,  and  the 
city  is  often  “ wide  open.”  The  man  with  a thirst  or 
the  man  in  search  of  saloon  sociability  does  not  have 
much  trouble  usually  in  finding  a hospitable  back  door. 
The  pride  of  Memphis  is  a park  of  three  acres  in  the 
very  centre  of  the  city.  Central  Park  in  New  York 
offers  rest  and  shade  to  thousands  of  people  daily,  and 
is  well  located  to  accomplish  much  for  the  city’s  mil- 
lions. 

Chicago  has  a system  of  parks  of  which  it  may 
justly  he  proud,  but  from  the  point  of  view  of  resorts 
for  the  laboring  people,  Chicago  has  no  parks.  The 
parks  are  so  distant  from  the  homes  of  the  masses  as 
to  be  practically  inaccessible.  The  park  system  is  de- 
signed for  the  rich,  while  it  taxes  the  poor,  and  reminds 
one  that  “ to  him  that  hath  shall  be  given.” 

Just  how  much  a system  of  parks  that  would  include 
small  parks  located  in  the  congested  and  wretched  dis- 
tricts of  the  city  would  counteract  the  saloon  is  not  to 
be  reduced  to  mathematical  calculation,  but  it  is  a need 
that  every  city  should  supply.  It  is  probable  that  in 
any  city  small  parks  that  are  in  the  midst  of  the  peo- 
ple will  be  a greater  benefit  than  the  elaborate  and 
extensive  parks  so  remote  that  they  can  be  seldom  vis- 
ited. They  will  furnish  breathing-spots,  promenades, 
and  resting-places  for  adults,  and  playgrounds  for 
young  men  and  children.  The  necessity  for  open  space 
within  the  crowded  districts  is  becoming  more  and 
more  impressed  upon  the  public,  and  in  many  cities 
measures  have  been  taken  to  secure  them.  It  is  a wise 
precaution  to  get  possession  of  ground  in  the  suburbs 
before  the  city  grows  out.  Too  often  the  open  space 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


197 


is  merely  a grass-grown  triangle  with  a few  benches, 
but  even  this  is  a welcome  spot  to  the  tired  parent  or 
child  whose  only  other  chance  for  fresh  air  is  the  street, 
the  roof,  or  a seat  on  the  fire  escape  of  his  tenement. 

Besides  the  municipal  parks,  there  are  private  parks 
and  resorts.  Of  course  all  resorts  where  the  saloon 
itself  flourishes,  and  where  there  are  other  institutions 
worse  than  the  saloon,  can  in  no  wise  be  classed  as 
saloon  substitutes.  The  nature  of  the  place  must  de- 
pend upon  the  nature  of  the  individual  or  individuals 
who  control  it.  The  roof  gardens  and  beer  gardens  are 
often  less  demoralizing  in  their  effect  than  the  saloon 
proper.  There  is  much  to  attract  and  give  pleasure 
that  neither  stimulates  a taste  for  drink  nor  is  in  other 
ways  degrading.  To  be  sure,  it  is  the  business  of  the 
keeper  to  sell  beer,  and  if  this  be  his  sole  object,  these 
resorts  are  to  be  classed  with  the  amusement  saloons. 
Again,  a company  may  establish  a resort  and  be  utterly 
indifferent  to  the  surroundings,  rather  encouraging 
saloons  to  settle  near  by,  there  being  an  understanding 
that  the  one  will  send  patrons  to  the  other. 

On  the  other  hand,  many  private  resorts,  however 
simple,  may  be  of  real  practical  use  ; for  example,  the 
summer  out  of  door  theatre  whose  platform  offers  some 
scarcely  elevating  yet  decent  farce.  A refreshment 
booth  is  put  up ; swings  and  popcorn  stands  with  “ Sar- 
atoga chips  ” for  sale  make  their  appearance,  and  soon 
there  is  a resort  which  is  attracting  hundreds  of  people, 
and  from  which  the  car  lines  reap  rich  harvests. 

Willow  Grove  Park  in  Philadelphia  represents  a 
type  of  suburban  resort  maintained  as  feeders  for  trolley 
lines  where  the  saloon  is  entirely  absent.  The  increase 


198 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


in  the  number  of  such  resorts  inaugurated  and  main- 
tained for  commercial  reasons  only  can  be  looked  upon 
as  an  encouraging  sign  with  reference  to  the  problem 
of  furnishing  summer  recreation  for  the  masses  of  the 
population  unattended  with  the  generally  disagreeable 
and  almost  inevitable  feature  of  the  saloon.  They  are 
the  result  of  a commercial  recognition  of  the  value  of 
an  appeal  to  the  sesthetic  sense  and  the  elimination  of 
drinking  in  mixed  crowds  of  pleasure  seekers.  The 
ethical  sense  of  the  community  is  not  appealed  to. 
What  the  trolley  car  company  would  say  if  questioned 
is : “We  offer  you  a park  where  there  will  be  no  saloons, 
because  saloons  in  public  places,  like  parks,  lead  to  dis- 
agreeable incidents,  and  disagreeable  incidents  multi- 
plied mean  eventually  the  imparting  of  a semi-disrep- 
utable air  to  a place.”  The  road  from  the  centre  of 
Philadelphia  to  Grove  Park  runs  through  pretty 

rolling  country,  and  the  park  itself  has  many  natural 
and  artificial  attractions.  There  are  groves  with  benches 
and  fountains,  many  forms  of  entertainment  and  free 
concerts.  Because  of  the  fare,  thirty  cents,  the  park  is 
unavailable  to  the  poorest  people,  but  it  reaches  many 
young  men  who  have  money  to  spend,  and  it  offers  them 
many  ways  of  spending  it,  which,  if  the  ways  are  good, 
is  a benefit.  Real  estate  companies  often  establish  such 
resorts.  Private  philanthropy  could  ask  no  broader 
outlet  than  the  establishment  of  parks  of  this  kind, 
making  them  free  to  the  people  and  accessible  as  well. 
L.  P.  Grant  did  well  for  the  citizens  of  Atlanta  by  his 
gift  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  for  a park,  the  only 
condition  being  that  it  should  be  open  to  blacks  and 
whites  alike. 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


199 


There  is  almost  no  limit  to  the  forms  of  entertain- 
ment which  could  be  offered,  for  a pleasure-seeking 
people  is  not  hard  to  please.  Picnic  grounds,  springs, 
and  benches  are  essential.  Chutes,  scenic  railways 
and  bicycle  tracks,  bowling-alleys,  baseball,  band  con- 
certs, rustic  theatres,  dancing-halls,  under  careful 
management  and  control,  furnish  luxuries  which  the 
people  may  enjoy.  They  will  have  an  influence  for 
good,  too,  by  demonstrating  that  more  pleasure  may  be 
gotten  from  a given  source  when  that  source  is  not 
abused.  An  excellent  example  of  what  such  a place 
can  be  is  afforded  by  Norumbega  Park,  which  is 
owned  by  the  Commonwealth  Avenue  Pailroad  of  Bos- 
ton. A large  amount  of  capital  has  been  spent  to 
make  the  place  attractive,  and  it  has  been  proven  that 
electric  car  service  at  a reasonable  fare,  combined  with 
good  bicycle  roads  and  an  attractive  objective  point, 
will  draw  the  crowd.  The  daily  average  attendance 
is  four  thousand,  reaching  fifteen  thousand  on  Sun- 
day. Ten  cents  is  the  cost  of  admission,  but  the 
cost  of  transportation  is  only  five.  Not  only  is  it  im- 
possible for  a man  to  get  drink  either  at  or  near  the 
park,  but  he  must  be  free  from  the  influence  or  sugges- 
tion of  liquor  to  get  into  it;  and  admission  to  it  is 
worth  something ; namely,  a clean  evening’s  enjoy- 
ment. 

Contrast  this  with  a park  seven  miles  out  of  Cin- 
cinnati which  is  owned  by  the  Cincinnati  Street  Rail- 
way, or  another  ten  miles  up  the  river  owned  by  the 
Steamship  Company.  These  parks  in  themselves  are 
beautiful,  the  admission  to  them  is  free,  and  thousands 
of  people  frequent  them,  but  the  free  sale  of  beer  and 


200 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


the  lack  of  discipline  prevent  their  being  classed  as 
substitutes  for  the  saloon.  The  free  sale  of  beer  at 
these  and  like  resorts  lessens  the  patronage  of  the  ice 
cream  pavilions  and  light  drink  stands,  and  in  many 
cases  leads  to  a misuse  of  the  otherwise  harmless  at- 
tractions of  the  place.  Men  and  women  drink  together, 
and  the  park  that  should  furnish  a healthful  place  for 
rest  and  enjoyment  too  often  becomes,  for  the  sake  of 
the  private  gains  of  the  owners,  a spot  with  pernicious 
and  unwholesome  influences. 

Most  cities  have  adjacent  picnic  grounds  and  subur- 
ban resorts,  and  excursions  and  picnics  are  a great 
resource  as  a means  of  outdoor  amusement  for  the  peo- 
ple, but  too  often  these  places  are  left  in  the  hands  of 
persons  who  destroy  their  usefulness.  The  municipal- 
ity should  take  this  matter  in  hand  and  see  to  it  that 
the  park  commission  owns  or  controls  the  resorts  of  the 
city’s  people.  A striking  comparison  existed  between 
Revere  Beach,  north  of  Boston,  which  some  time  ago 
became  a public  reservation  under  the  charge  of  the 
Metropolitan  Park  Commission,  and  Nantasket  Beach, 
on  the  south  side  of  Boston,  which  until  recently  was 
under  private  control.  At  the  former,  order  reigned 
and  the  vices  were  partly  banished,  partly  repressed. 
At  the  latter,  the  vices  were  obvious  and  uncontrolled. 
Now,  by  order  of  state  legislation,  Nantasket  Beach  is 
public  domain.  Merely  from  the  landscape  point  of 
view,  it  is  the  finer  of  the  two,  and  it  will,  no  doubt, 
soon  become  the  beneficent  place  which  the  other  has 
long  been.  The  Revere  Beach  Reservation,  with  its 
beach,  shelters,  band  concerts,  merry-go-roimds,  and 
restaurants,  attracts  large  numbers.  These  average 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


201 


twelve  thousand  or  fifteen  thousand  on  week  days  and 
five  or  six  times  as  many  on  fair  Sundays.  A corps  of 
over  a dozen  Park  Commission  police  efficiently  man- 
ages this  crowd.  Only  thirty-three  arrests  were  made 
in  1897. 

It  should  not  be  enough  to  say  of  a resort  that  “ one 
can  see  comparatively  little  rowdyism  and  so  need  not 
he  disturbed.”  Nor  is  it  effective  to  become  disgusted 
with  the  place  and  to  stay  away.  The  rowdyism  should 
be  kept  out.  The  resorts  should  be  rivals  to  the  city 
parks  as  means  of  healthful  recreation,  and  they,  too, 
should  be  made  accessible  to  the  many  by  means  of  a 
small  transportation  fee. 

Excursions  are  common.  Does  the  laboring  man 
enjoy  them  ? The  politician  gives  an  excursion  and  in- 
cludes him,  but  it  were  better  for  him  to  have  stayed 
at  home,  for  the  beer  has  flowed  freely  and  likely  his 
vote  will  pay  for  his  fun.  If  the  day  comes  when  the 
municipality  controls  the  lands,  the  means  of  transpor- 
tation, and  the  various  attractions,  the  cooperation  of 
these  essentials  may  bring  the  resort  within  the  wage- 
earner’s  reach.  The  growing  custom  among  transpor- 
tation companies  of  distributing  tickets,  free  of  charge, 
is  a commendable  one.  The  most  economical  use  of 
private  gifts  is  the  one  that  will  bring  the  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number.  The  Randidge  fund  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  which  was  left  to  the  city  of  Bos- 
ton, has  been  used  to  establish  a picnic  ground  at  one  of 
the  city  islands,  and  daily  transports  to  and  from  this 
place  three  hundred  poor  children  in  the  city  steamer. 
Surely  there  should  be  established  many  large  and 
small  parks  and  resorts  accessible  to  the  people,  offer- 


202 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


ing  the  attractions  of  sociability  and  recreation  which 
furnish  clean  and  wholesome  amusement  under  the 
supervision,  if  not  the  control,  of  the  municipality,  and 
offering  to  the  laboring  man  a place  of  rest  and  refresh- 
ment outside  of  the  saloon. 

Of  equal  importance  as  direct  substitutes  for  the 
saloon  are  the  outdoor  gymnasiums  and  playgrounds 
for  young  men.  Possibly  the  gymnasium  is  the  most 
effective  substitute ; it  offers  a definite  aim  to  its  habi- 
tues, something  to  work  for,  and  it  satisfies,  at  the 
same  time,  the  primary  social  desire  and  the  purely 
physical  demand.  Drinking  combined  with  social  re- 
creation is  another  instance  of  this  double  satisfaction. 
By  refining  the  physical  satisfaction,  by  changing  it  to 
one  that  is  ultimately  helpful  to  the  body  instead  of  harm- 
ful, an  effective  substitute  is  provided.  One  advantage 
of  the  gymnasium  is  that  while  often  inaugurated  un- 
der denominational  auspices,  its  doors  are  open  to  aU, 
even  when  other  social  activities  are  limited. 

Native  athletic  clubs  are  not  numerous,  and  it  is  for 
philanthropy  and  the  municipality  to  provide  them. 
Recreation  and  physical  exercise  are  fundamental  to 
the  moral  and  physical  welfare  of  the  people.  The 
influence  of  such  a place  upon  the  community  is  de- 
monstrated in  the  history  of  the  outdoor  gymnasium 
connected  with  Seward  Park,  which  was  created  by  re- 
moving the  tenements  in  the  three  blocks  bounded  by 
Hester,  Norfolk,  Division,  and  Essex  streets,  one  of  the 
most  crowded  regions  on  the  East  Side  of  New  York. 
This  place,  filled  with  rubbish  for  a time,  was  the  bat- 
tle-ground for  many  mimic  wars  which  ended  disas- 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


203 


trously  for  the  boys  engaged  in  them.  The  Outdoor 
Recreation  League  appeared,  and  finally  enough  money 
was  raised  to  clean  the  space  out  and  fence  it  in ; but 
the  victory  was  not  yet,  and  every  morning  crates  of 
rotten  eggs  and  any  quantity  of  spoiled  fruit  and  garb- 
age would  be  found  there.  The  grounds  were  formally 
opened  June  3,  1898,  and  for  the  past  two  seasons 
thousands  of  people  have  used  the  grounds  daily  and 
have  ceased  of  their  own  accord  to  misuse  them.  The 
league  has  found  trouble  in  securing  money  for  its 
gymnasium  because,  being  a park  property,  they  were 
supposed  to  receive  assistance  from  the  city.  Now  the 
prosjoect  is  more  encouraging,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the 
city  will  make  the  needed  improvements.  The  plans 
submitted  to  the  Park  Department  by  the  league  pro- 
vide a large  amphitheatre  which  would  be  a valuable 
addition.  Instead  of  one,  there  are  to  be  two  gymna- 
siums. The  place  could  be  flooded  in  winter  for  skat- 
ing and  in  summer  be  used  for  the  people’s  mass  meet- 
ings. An  attempt  was  made  to  have  Seward  Park 
lighted  at  night,  but  only  four  electric  lights  were  fur- 
nished, which  proved  inadequate,  and  the  grounds  have 
not  been  kept  open  after  dark. 

There  is  not  a large  city  in  America  that  could  not 
profitably  support  such  places.  The  fruits  of  these  out- 
door gymnasiums  have  already  appeared  in  hundreds 
of  young  fellows  who  have  acquired  a knowledge,  not 
only  of  the  best  methods  of  exercise  and  its  benefits, 
but  of  the  principles  of  order,  decency,  and  fair  play. 
What  has  been  accomplished  proves  what  the  influence 
of  provision  for  the  physical  development  and  recrea- 
tion of  the  people  is  in  wiping  out  quarters  of  un- 


204 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


cleanness  and  leading  their  habitants  to  wholesome  and 
happier  lives.  The  Charlesbank  Gymnasium  in  Boston 
furnishes  an  excellent  example.  It  is  located  on  the 
river  hank  extending  from  the  Canal  Street  bridge  to 
the  West  Boston  bridge.  This  property,  comprising 
ten  acres,  was  acquired  by  the  Park  Department  in 
1883  at  a cost  of  over  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
The  water  side  of  the  W est  End,  being  a district  crowded 
with  large  colonies  of  Negroes  and  Jews,  afPords,  apart 
from  its  gymnastic  aim,  valuable  breathing-space.  At 
either  end  are  the  playgrounds.  The  men’s  gj^mnastic 
apparatus  is  inclosed  within  a running-track  allowing 
five  laps  to  the  mile.  There  are  pulley  weights,  giant 
strides,  horizontal  and  parallel  bars,  and  swings.  Near 
by  is  the  lavatory  and  locker  building,  where  there  are 
shower  and  sj^ray  baths  and  a large  number  of  lockers. 
A woman’s  gymnasium  is  at  the  opposite  end  of  the 
park.  The  patronage  of  the  men’s  outdoor  gymnasium 
averages  over  one  thousand  a day,  drawn  from  widely 
separated  classes.  The  grounds  are  inclosed  by  an  iron 
fence,  which  is  thronged  nightly  with  interested  specta- 
tors, many  of  whom  are  induced  to  enter.  East  Boston 
and  South  Boston  have  similar  gymnasiums.  The  com- 
paratively small  attendance  at  class-work  need  not  dis- 
courage one,  because  it  is  certainly  a positive  influence 
in  the  lives  of  the  young  men  wdio  do  come  and  for 
months  at  a time  give  up  smoking,  drinking,  and  late 
hours.  There  are  thousands  who  occasionally  use  the 
apparatus,  and  many  more  who  take  pleasure  in  look- 
ing on,  at  the  same  time  being  invited  to  healthier  and 
cleaner  habits.  The  outlay  need  not  be  excessive.  A 
running-track,  pulley  weights,  swings,  horizontal  and 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


205 


parallel  bars,  an  inclined  ladder,  springboard,  jumping- 
board,  climbing-poles,  and  a puncbing-bag  are  sufficient 
apparatus. 

Other  athletic  sports  are  the  bicycle  meets  and  ball 
games.  Unfortunately,  gambling  and  drinking  are 
often  a part  of  these  sports,  but  there  is  much  that  is 
desirable.  If  the  ball  fields  were  at  a distance  from 
the  saloons,  and  if  some  rule  were  enforced  which  would 
keep  out  intoxicated  men,  it  would  be  well.  Were  a 
real  interest  in  the  game  the  only  motive  that  drew 
the  crowds,  it  would  be  a most  wholesome  amusement ; 
and  were  the  players  desirous  of  carefully  training 
well-developed  physiques,  it  would  be  a means  of  in- 
creasing an  admiration  for  sterling  qualities  among  the 
people. 

For  outdoor  recreation,  there  is  an  ever  increasing 
demand  for  space,  and  it  is  a legitimate  use  of  the 
housetops  and  piers  which  can  supply  many  of  the 
benefits  of  the  parks  and  gymnasiums.  The  Oriental 
custom  of  fleeing  to  the  housetops  is  somewhat  in  vogue 
in  the  Hebrew  quarters  of  New  York,  but  compara- 
tively few  roofs  are  open  to  the  public,  and  these  are 
not  owned  by  the  city  or  tenement  proprietors.  The 
Educational  Alliance  on  East  Broadway  has  opened  the 
roof  of  its  building  to  the  people  in  the  vicinity,  and 
an  average  daily  attendance  of  four  thousand  shows 
their  appreciation.  Eleven  hundred  of  these  are 
adults.  Awnings  are  spread  in  the  daytime,  and  there 
are  seats  and  picnic  tables.  Soft  drinks  are  sold,  and 
there  is  a copious  supply  of  ice  water.  Five  evenings 
in  the  week  there  is  music  from  eight  to  ten. 

It  is  hard  to  overestimate  the  value  of  open-air 


206 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


concerts,  for  they  not  only  draw  but  hold  large  au- 
diences. There  is  always  an  increased  attendance  at 
the  parks  when  they  are  given,  and  it  is  a significant 
fact  that  saloons  in  the  neighborhood  often  give  up 
their  musical  attractions.  The  saloon-keeper  has  re- 
cognized the  fact  that  music  attracts  the  people,  and 
the  corps  of  musicians  who  play  nightly  in  each  of  the 
better  class  of  bar-rooms  in  most  cases  justify  the 
extra  expense  by  an  increase  in  patronage.  Some  who 
frequent  the  saloon  for  the  sake  of  the  music  find  their 
thoughts  are  clearer,  their  hearts  lighter,  and  their 
hardships  forgotten  more  easily.  It  is  these  whom  the 
open-air  concerts  draw  from  the  saloon,  and  it  is  the 
laboring  class  as  a whole  who  are  furnished  with  an 
enjoyable  means  of  spending  an  evening. 

The  recreation  jiiers  of  New  York  are  built  over 
ordinary  wharves.  They  are  roofed,  and  awnings  are 
lowered  over  the  sides  in  case  of  rain.  They  are  open 
from  seven  A.  M.  to  twelve  P.  M.,  and  there  is  a chance 
for  great  benefit  to  be  derived  from  them  by  many 
thousands  of  people.  The  privilege  of  setting  up  fruit 
and  soda  water  stands  is  leased  by  the  Dock  Depart- 
ment, and  notwithstanding  the  poverty  of  the  patrons, 
trade  is  prosperous.  Wooden  benches  line  either  side, 
and  ill  the  centime  are  the  stands.  Each  evening  a band 
of  musicians  plays.  The  wharves  occupy  the  coolest 
and  most  picturesque  part  of  many  large  cities,  and 
they  should  be  utilized  for  the  comfort  of  the  people. 
The  details  of  administration  must  be  cai’efully  watched, 
and  the  thoroughfares  leading  to  them  must  be  well 
lighted  and  guarded,  since  they  often  run  through  the 
roughest  part  of  the  town.  Besides  the  police  and 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


207 


matrons  in  attendance  at  the  piers  to  maintain  order, 
there  should  be  other  restrictions  to  avoid  the  evil  that 
is  liable  to  arise  because  of  the  location,  the  freedom, 
and  the  character  of  certain  of  the  patrons.  The  piers 
and  the  wharves  under  them  could  be  used  more  than 
they  are  for  purely  recreative  purposes.  Running- 
tracks  and  gymnastic  apparatus  might  be  arranged  on 
the  wharves. 

The  city  which  is  near  the  water’s  edge  has  other 
natural  resources  in  its  means  for  swimming  and  boat- 
ing, fishing  and  bathing.  Some  good  settlement  work 
has  been  done  in  interesting  boys  in  boating  and  swim- 
ming as  preparation  for  service  in  a life-saving  crew. 
Many  inland  cities  have  natural  or  artificial  lakes,  and 
they  furnish  much  recreation  to  the  people  if  the  use 
of  them  is  brought  within  their  means.  Excursions 
by  water  are  often  more  attractive  than  picnics  on 
land,  and  many  philanthropists  have  taken  heed  of 
this  fact. 

Much  has  been  accomplished  by  the  different  organ- 
izations of  our  cities  in  establishing  public  baths  for 
the  summer  months.  In  this  the  cities  with  natural 
facilities  for  bathing  have  the  advantage.  The  follow- 
ing is  a quotation  from  a report  of  a committee  of 
aldermen  submitted  in  Boston  as  long  ago  as  1860.  It 
recognizes  the  need  of  bathing  for  poor  people  and  the 
difficulty  of  satisfying  it  in  their  own  homes.  “ Con- 
sequently their  baths  are  infrequent  and  of  but  partial 
benefit  when  taken.  Then  they  become  careless  as  to 
their  persons  and  their  apparel.  Their  respect  for 
themselves  and  their  class  and  their  families  diminishes. 


208  SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 

They  lose  all  interest  in  education  and  in  refined  man- 
ners. Their  moral  sense  becomes  more  or  less  blunted, 
and  degeneracy  is  the  inevitable  tendency.”  Boston 
was  one  of  the  first  cities  in  America  to  recognize  the 
importance  of  free  baths  for  poor  people,  and  deserves 
credit  for  having  done  much  to  meet  the  need.  Under 
the  direction  of  the  Bath  Department,  a large  number 
of  bathing-houses,  swimming-pools,  and  floating-baths 
are  now  operated.  For  children  of  school  age  every- 
thing, including  instruction,  is  furnished  free,  except 
towels,  for  the  use  of  which  a charge  of  one  cent  is 
made.  Adults  are  supposed  to  pay  for  bathing-suits, 
except  at  North  End  Park,  at  the  rate  of  five  cents  a 
suit,  but  this  is  by  no  means  insisted  upon  in  the  case 
of  patrons  known  to  be  too  poor  to  pay  the  fee.  The 
total  number  of  bathers  in  the  bath  establishments  for 


the  season  of  1898,  — 

Estimated 2,500,000 

Expense  of  maintenance $35,000 

Cost  per  bath 01^ 


3500  is  the  estimated  number  of  children  who  learned 
to  swim  in  free  baths  in  1898. 

The  North  End  Park  bathing-beach  has  been  called 
“ The  Great  City  Bathtub.”  At  either  end  of  the 
beach,  which  is  perhaps  four  hundred  feet  long,  are 
the  bathing-houses,  the  one  for  men  including  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-one  closets  and  five  hundred  lockers. 
These  are  used  dally  by  an  average  of  six  thousand 
men  and  boys.  In  the  women’s  bathhouse  there  are 
one  hundred  and  sixty-four  closets  for  an  average 
attendance  of  three  thousand.  These  numbers  show 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


209 


the  popularity  of  bathing  and  the  problem  of  providing 
adequate  accommodations.  It  is  almost  impossible  to 
exaggerate  the  influence  of  this  bathing-beach  in  its 
neighborhood.  The  crowded  tenement  district  which 
surrounds  it  is  noticeably  cleaner,  and  the  police  report 
the  number  of  arrests  of  boys  for  malicious  mischief 
greatly  decreased.  An  equally  important  and  interest- 
ing bath  is  the  large  beach  bath  in  South  Boston,  which 
attracts  thousands  from  all  quarters  of  the  city. 

The  following  tables  give  the  statistics  of  the  Bath 
Department : — 

BOSTON  BATH  DEPARTMENT  STATISTICS.  1898. 


Attend- 

ants. 

Average  Daily 
Patronage. 

Name. 

Estab- 

lished. 

Cost. 

d 

<0 

Women. 

Men. 

Women. 

Floating-Houses. 

Malden  Bridge 

1874 

f4,500 

2 

2 

600 

175 

Chelsea  Bridge 

1875 

3,000 

2 

2 

600 

250 

Border  Street  (2) 

1866 

6,000 

3,000 

3 

2 

400 

200 

Maverick  Point 

1870 

2 

2 

400 

200 

Dover  Street  (2) 

1866 

6,000 

3 

2 

750 

650 

Warren  Bridge  (2) 

1866 

10,000 

3 

2 

700 

650 

Craigie  Bridge 

1867 

5,500 

5,500 

3 

- 

2,500 

- 

West  Boston  Bridge 

1866 

2 

2 

800 

700 

Neponset  Bridge 

1898 

3,000 

2 

2 

300 

200 

Harvard  Bridge 

1898 

3,500 

2 

- 

- 

- 

Beach  Baths. 

Charlestown  Park 

1898 

1,500 

4 

3 

2,000 

6,000 

1,500 

North  End  Park 

1897 

- 

16 

11 

3,000 

1,200 

Wood  Island  Park 

1898 

3,500 

4 

3 

2,000 

K Street,  South  Boston 

1898 

1,500 

2 

3 

_ 

3,000 

L Street,  South  Boston 

1866 

3,500 

12 

_ 

4,500 

_ 

Commercial  Point 

- 

1,500 

3 

2 

1,500 

1,500 

Neponset  Beach 

1898 

temp’ry 

2 

- 

400 

- 

Swimming-Pools. 

Orchard  Park 

1898 

3,500 

4 

3 

500 

200 

Cabot  Street 

1868 

4,500 

3 

3 

1,300 

300 

River  Bath. 

West  Eoxbury 

1898 

2,800 

3 

2 

300 

200 

210 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


TOTALS. 

Number  of  Establishments. 

Floating-houses 

13 

Beach  baths  

7 

Pools 

2 

River  baths 

1 

23 

Total  Cost 

$72,300 

Number  of  Attendants. 

Men  

77 

Women 

46 

123 

Average  Daily  Patronage. 

City  Baths, 

Men 

. 25,450 

Women 

. 13,925 

39,375 

State  Bath  at  Revere  ... 

. 1,500 

City  Point  Bath 

700 

Total  number  of  persons  in  average  daily 

attendance  at  public  bathing-places  in  Boston 


For  the  sake  of  unity  the  “ all  the  year  round  ” bath 
is  discussed  here  instead  of  in  the  preceding  chapter. 
Facilities  for  bathing  during  the  summer  months  have 
been  within  the  reach  of  the  wage-earner  of  some  of 
our  cities  for  a good  many  years,  but  it  is  only  within 
the  past  five  years  that  the  provision  for  bathing  all 
the  year  round  has  been  seriously  undertaken.  The 
necessity  for  such  provision  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  public  health  is  made  very  apparent  by  the  simple 
observation  that  the  tenement  houses  in  which  live 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


211 


vast  numbers  of  the  working  people  have  absolutely 
no  facilities  for  bathing,  and  that  cleanliness  of  body 
is  certainly  as  desirable  during  the  winter  as  during 
the  summer  months.  In  New  York  only  three  hun- 
dred and  six  people  out  of  the  255,033  considered  by 
Mr.  Gilder’s  committee,  and  only  two  per  cent  of  the 
population  studied  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor,  had  access 
to  baths  inside  of  the  houses  which  they  occupied.  It 
is  true  that  to  some  the  bath  seems  to  be  a summer 
pastime,  and  that  in  the  winter  months  the  average 
attendance  at  the  public  baths  is  lower ; and  yet  that 
the  people  desire  to  bathe  during  the  colder  months 
has  been  amply  proved  by  the  success  of  the  winter 
baths  already  established.  No  municipality  then  will 
have  discharged  its  duty,  as  Mayor  Quincy  has  defined 
it,  until  it  brings  “ within  the  reach  of  all,  in  winter 
as  well  as  in  summer,  facilities  for  securing  the  physi- 
cal cleanliness  that  bears  such  close  relationship  to 
social  and  moral  well-being.” 

The  cities  that  are  discharging  this  duty  are  very 
few.  The  most  are  content  to  allow  their  thousands 
of  toilers  to  go  unwashed  during  at  least  eight  months 
of  the  year.  It  is  only  since  1895  that  the  movement 
began  in  America,  in  imitation  of  very  successful 
European  models,  and  thus  far  it  has  reached  only  half 
a dozen  of  our  American  cities.  The  beginning  was 
made  in  New  York,  where  the  Society  for  Improv- 
ing the  Condition  of  the  Poor  established  an  all  the 
year  people’s  bath  at  Centre  Market  Place,  and  a 
portion  of  the  Baron  de  Hirsch  Fund  was  used  to 
locate  another  at  Market  and  Henry  streets.  Besides 
taking  the  lead  chronologically.  New  York  has  taken 


212 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


another  step  far  in  advance  of  any  other  common- 
wealth ; for  Mayor  Strong’s  Committee  on  Public 
Baths,  appointed  in  July,  1895,  obtained  legislation 
making  the  establishment  of  free  hot  and  cold  baths, 
open  fourteen  hours  daily  throughout  the  year,  obliga- 
tory on  the  larger  cities  of  the  State.  Already  one 
large  hath  has  been  opened  in  Buffalo  in  a central 
location,  and  another  is  under  construction  in  the  most 
congested  part  of  the  city.  For  the  one  municipal 
hath  in  New  York  no  less  than  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars  was  appropriated. 

Other  cities  followed  New  York’s  example.  In 
Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  the  work  was  undertaken 
by  private  associations  or  individuals.  The  Public 
Bath  Association  of  Philadelphia  was  organized  on 
February  7 and  incorporated  on  March  19,  1895,  “ for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  and  maintaining  public 
baths  and  affording  to  the  poor  facilities  for  bathing 
and  the  promotion  of  health  and  cleanliness.”  In 
April,  1897,  the  public  bath  on  the  corner  of  Gaskill 
and  Leithgow  streets  was  formally  opened.  Its  con- 
struction cost  approximately  twenty-seven  thousand 
dollars.  It  has  been  successful  from  the  start.  In 
the  same  summer  in  Philadelphia,  2,853,702  bathers 
were  recorded  in  the  seven  public  baths  maintained  by 
the  city.  There  is  no  charge  whatever  in  these,  and 
bathers  bring  their  own  towels.  That  public  baths 
can  be  run  at  little  expense  is  proved  by  Baltimore, 
whose  statistics  show  forty  thousand  baths  to  have 
cost  only  five  hundred  dollars,  one  eighth  cent  per 
bath.  And  yet  not  more  than  half  a dozen  munici- 
palities are  providing  for  this  need. 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


213 


In  Boston  itself,  it  was  not  until  the  spring  of  1898 
that  the  city  undertook  the  provision  for  indoor  bath- 
inor.  An  indoor  bathhouse  has  been  erected  on  Dover 

O 

Street,  in  the  midst  of  a dense  population  and  within 
easy  reach  of  the  outlying  districts.^  On  the  first 
floor  are  separate  waiting-rooms  for  men  and  women, 
together  with  the  laundry  and  engine-room  in  the  rear. 
On  jthe  second  floor  are  bathrooms  both  for  men  and 
for  women.  There  are  thirty  sprays  and  three  tubs 
for  men,  and  eleven  sprays  and  six  tubs  for  women. 
All  the  baths  are  inclosed.  Each  shower  cabin  con- 
tains a dressing-alcove,  with  a seat.  A Gegenstrbm 
apparatus  is  used,  which  permits  the  bather  to  regu- 
late the  temperature  of  the  water  to  suit  himself.  The 
following  table  for  the  winter  of  1898-1899  shows  its 
success  during  the  first  months : — 


NUMBER  OF  BATHERS  AT  THE  DOVER  STREET  BATH 
DURING  THE  FIRST  SEVEN  MONTHS. 


Date. 

Men. 

Boys. 

Total. 

Women. 

Girls. 

Total. 

October  (15  days) 

4,156 

1,460 

5,616 

669 

581 

1,250 

November 

6,837 

3,907 

10,744 

2,465 

2,323 

4,788 

December 

7,659 

3,812 

11,371 

2,812 

2,535 

5,347 

January 

7,646 

3,780 

11,426 

2,633 

2,988 

5,621 

February 

7,733 

3,664 

11,397 

2,641 

2,354 

4,995 

March 

9,796 

4,341 

14,137 

3,791 

2,866 

6,657 

April 

12,535 

5,637 

18,172 

4,314 

4,017 

8,331 

Whole  number 119,852 

Largest  number  of  bathers  in  any  one  day 2,045 


The  swimming-pools  of  Orchard  Park  and  Cabot 
Street  will  be  made  available  for  the  winter  months, 
since  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  heat  the  water  in  the 
^ Free  Municipal  Baths  in  Boston,  by  W.  I.  Cole. 


214 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


tanks.  The  Bath  Department  contemplates  having  an- 
other large  bathhouse  at  the  North  End,  the  outlying 
sections  to  be  accommodated  by  baths  connected  with 
gymnasiums. 

Chicago  has  at  present  three  or  four  all  the  year  round 
baths  operated  by  the  city,  but  outside  of  the  cities 
mentioned  there  are  few  that  have  free  public  bathing- 
houses.  San  Francisco  has  two  magnificent  bathing 
establishments,  but  the  fee  of  twenty-five  cents  shuts 
out  the  man  who  needs  them  most.  It  would  be  a 
good  plan  for  San  Francisco  to  purchase  the  Lurline 
Baths,  which  are  centrally  located,  and  throw  them 
open  to  the  public.  Denver  has  a pool  natatorium  in 
summer;  nothing  in  winter.  The  indce  of  admission 
is  twenty-five  cents ; even  so  the  bath  is  inadequate  for 
the  city’s  population  of  135,000.  In  Cincinnati,  where 
river  bathing  is  against  the  law,  a bath  costs  fifteen 
cents  at  the  “ Swim,”  at  the  Young  Men’s  Christian 
Association,  or  at  the  Cincinnati  Gymnasium.  And 
so  the  story  goes.  If  every  State  would  imitate  the 
legislature  of  New  York,  or  every  city  follow  the  policy 
of  Boston,  we  would  have  cleaner,  healthier  men  and 
women  in  our  cities,  fewer  victims  of  disease  and  of 
intemperance. 

Experience,  then,  has  taught  these  lessons  in  regard 
to  the  winter  baths : First,  that  the  baths  should  be 
free,  and  to  this  end  controlled  and  operated  by  the 
city.  Second,  that  a “ considerable  number  of  estab- 
lishments should  be  furnished  designed  for  local  use 
rather  than  one  or  two  on  a large  scale  at  central 
points.  In  other  words,  the  people  of  a given  neigh- 
borhood should  not  have  to  go  far  in  order  to  avail 


OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


215 


themselves  of  such  facilities.  If  the  bath  is  withiu 
half  a mile  to  a mile  of  the  home,  it  will  be  readily  or 
extensively  used ; if  it  is  two  or  three  miles  away,  its 
use  will  be  very  greatly  restricted.”  Third,  that  not 
the  pool  but  the  shower  bath  is  the  best  form  of  in- 
door bath.  The  Gegenstrbm  apparatus  has  been  most 
widely  adopted,  by  which  the  water  is  made  to  strike 
the  shoulders  first  and  the  temperature  can  be  regu- 
lated to  suit  the  bather.  Fourth,  that  twenty  thousand 
dollars  is  sufficient  to  erect  and  equip  a bathhouse  with 
a capacity  of  eight  hundred  daily. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  when  the  people  look 
upon  the  bath  as  a necessity,  and  when  it  ceases  to  be 
a luxury,  its  direct  influence  upon  the  saloon  will  be 
smaller.  More  likely  it  will  work  the  other  way. 
The  public  bath  open  aU  the  year  round  should  rank  as 
one  of  the  most  important  municipal  agencies  for  the 
improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  people.  Inland 
cities  suffer  a disadvantage,  but  in  working  out  the 
problem  of  substitution  for  the  saloon,  they  may  be 
assured  that  the  institution  which  offers  the  fun  of 
swimming  with  the  luxury  of  cooling  off  is  an  impor- 
tant one.  Here  again  physical  enjoyment  is  combined 
with  recreation,  — a place  to  get  cool  with  a place  for 
social  pleasure.  The  bath  is  closely  allied  with  our 
subject  both  from  the  point  of  view  of  recreation  and 
of  cleanliness,  the  one  connecting  it  directly,  the  other 
indirectly,  with  the  saloon  substitute  problem. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


LUNCH-EOOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES. 

The  saloon  is  primarily  a drinking-place ; its  real 
business  is  to  satisfy  tbe  desire  for  intoxicating  liquors. 
When,  therefore,  we  turn  to  consider  the  possibility  of 
meeting  the  saloon  in  open  competition  on  its  chosen 
field,  we  face  a more  difficult  problem  than  we  have 
yet  met,  a problem  which,  strictly  speaking,  is  incapable 
of  solution.  There  is  no  substitute  for  the  saloon  as 
a drinking  centre  because  there  is  no  substitute  for 
alcohol.  This  is  the  very  citadel  of  the  liquor  dealer, 
from  which  he  looks  down  with  reasonable  and  well- 
founded  indifference  upon  all  substitutes.  His  confi- 
dence is  not  misplaced.  It  rests  upon  the  deepest 
physiological  foundation,  for  it  is  not  the  normal 
thirst  alone  which  alcohol  satisfies.  Beyond  it  is  that 
morbid  craving  for  a sensation  which  as  yet  alcohol 
alone  has  been  able  to  produce.  All  other  soft  drinks 
are  “ kindergarten  ” affairs,  which  the  drinking  man 
views  with  good -humor  and  contempt.  Other  reasons, 
beside  the  physiological,  increase  the  difficulty.  Alco- 
hol whets  but  does  not  satisfy  the  thirst.  Hence  it  is 
a means  of  retaining  the  customer.  Once  awakened, 
the  desire  for  alcoholic  stimulants  becomes  habitual, 
more  and  more  exacting  and  imperative  until  it  demands 
daily  a frequent  gratification.  Once  a saloon  patron 
always  a patron.  But  “soft  drinks”  exert  no  such 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES. 


217 


continuous  hold.  They  satisfy,  do  not  excite  the  thirst. 
The  demand  for  them  is  intermittent  and  irregular. 
Again,  alcohol  is  a stimulant  to  sociability.  It  warms 
the  cockles  of  the  heart  and  promotes  good  cheer.  Tea, 
coffee,  and  ginger  ale  in  any  quantity  cannot  rival  in 
this  respect  a single  glass  of  beer.  And  when  we  con- 
sider that  if  the  demand  for  temperance  drinks  really 
becomes  considerable,  there  is  nothing  in  the  license  of 
the  saloon-keeper  which  prevents  him  from  adding 
them  to  his  own  stock  in  trade,  the  problem  seems 
truly  hopeless. 

It  will  not  do,  then,  to  overestimate  the  influence  of 
temperance  drinking-places.  The  most  that  can  be 
said  of  any  attempt  to  rival  the  saloon  upon  the  ground 
of  drink  alone  is  that  it  is  a palliative,  not  in  any  sense 
a cure.  Where  soft  drinks  alone  are  furnished,  with- 
out any  other  inducement,  their  effect  is  that  they  offer 
a means  for  satisfying  the  normal  thirst  without  the 
necessity  of  entering  a saloon.  Where  other  induce- 
ments are  offered,  they  and  not  the  soft  drinks  are 
primarily  the  cause  for  the  patronage.  But  it  may 
be  true  that  in  the  cour.se  of  time  an  habitual  use  of 
non-intoxicants  will  take  the  place  of  the  abnormal 
craving  for  alcoholic  drinks.  Thus  all  kinds  of  places 
for  retailing  soft  drinks  have  their  place,  and,  within 
the  limits  that  have  been  suggested,  exert  a wholesome 
influence. 

The  places  where  non-alcoholic  drinks  are  on  sale  in 
any  city  are  almost  innumerable.  Nearly  every  drug- 
store has  its  soda  fountain,  frequently  with  attachments 
for  serving  hot  chocolate  or  beef  tea.  To  these  must 
be  added  the  confectionery  stores  and  the  lemonade 


218 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


and  spring-water  stands.  The  patronage  of  these  places 
during  the  warm  months  is  enormous ; and  if  it  may 
be  claimed  that  few  saloon  patrons  are  applicants  at 
the  soda  fountain,  it  may  with  equal  confidence  be 
affirmed  that  without  the  soda  fountain  the  saloon 
patronage  would  be  largely  increased.  A member  of 
one  of  the  largest  wholesale  drug  and  chemical  firms 
in  Boston  said  that  he  believed  more  was  being  done 
for  the  cause  of  temperance  by  the  introduction  of 
large  soda  fountains  in  city  pharmacies  than  by  all 
the  societies  and  pledges  which  had  been  devised.  An 
effort  was  made  some  years  ago  to  secure  a rough  esti- 
mate of  the  extent  of  the  soda-water  traffic  in  the  city 
of  Boston.  The  method  followed  was  to  obtain  from 
the  wholesale  soda  manufacturers  an  estimate  of  the 
amount  of  soda  water  furnished  to  the  retailers  of  the 
city.  The  wholesale  soda-dealers  are  comparatively 
few  in  number,  and  their  business  is  so  systematized 
that  an  estimate  of  the  number  of  fountains  supplied, 
and  the  frequency  of  the  replenishment,  can  be  accu- 
rately given.  The  majority  of  the  fountains  contain 
ten  gallons,  some  of  them  running  as  high  as  fifteen. 
In  reducing  the  calculation  to  glasses,  one  half  a pint 
of  the  soda  water  was  allowed  to  a glass,  which  is  prob- 
ably an  overestimate.  The  returns  of  the  six  manufac- 
turers, in  terms  of  glasses  per  day,  give  approximately 
85,000  as  a patronage  for  which  they  can  account.  By 
taking  all  the  variety  of  temperance  drinks  which  do 
not  contain  soda  water  in  their  composition  as  an  addi- 
tional figure,  it  was  estimated  that  100,000  was  the 
probable  daily  patronage  during  the  summer  months 
of  the  soda  fountains  and  street  booths  of  the  city. 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES.  219 


This  was  just  about  one  half  of  the  estimated  total 
saloon  patronage.  And  it  is  probable  that  for  every 
two  who  visit  the  saloons  during  the  summer,  one  at 
least  will  satisfy  his  thirst  at  a temperance  drinking- 
place.  Now  it  is  evident  that  so  large  a consumption 
of  temperance  drinks  must  keep  some  at  least  out  of 
the  saloons.  The  proprietors  of  temperance  drinking- 
places,  without  doubt,  find  that  their  returns  are  appre- 
ciably greater  on  holidays,  when  saloons  are  closed,  than 
on  days  when  they  are  open.  When  beer,  that  is, 
cannot  be  had,  a milder  drink  becomes  a good  substi- 
tute. 

In  addition  to  these  establishments  for  the  sale  of 
soft  drinks  are  the  public  ice-water  fountains.  In 
New  York,  the  Church  Temperance  Society  has  placed 
nine  of  these  fountains  in  crowded  portions  of  the  city, 
generally  in  connection  with  some  church  or  mission. 
In  Boston,  the  city  has  provided  the  fountains,  thirty- 
two  of  them  being  maintained  at  public  expense  during 
the  summer,  in  addition  to  a few  others  supported  by 
private  gifts.  Here  is  a convenient  and  practical  form 
of  municipal  enterprise.  At  slight  expense  much  com- 
fort and  satisfaction  can  be  given,  and  a positive  cor- 
rective to  the  saloon  be  provided ; for  it  is  impossible 
to  suppose  that  of  the  hundreds  of  workingmen  who 
daily  stand  in  line  waiting  their  turn  for  a drink  of 
cold  water  some  at  least  would  not  otherwise  find  their 
way  to  a saloon.  The  cost  of  a substantial  fountain  is 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  It  should  consist 
of  a strong  wooden  chest,  covered  on  the  bottom  and 
sides  with  iron  pipe,  and  with  a cavity  in  the  centre 
capable  of  holding  three  hundred  pounds  of  ice  that 


220 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


has  to  be  added  daily.  The  cost  of  operating  such  a 
fountain  for  six  months  of  the  year,  allowing  for 
repairs,  will  be  about  seventy-five  dollars.  It  is  hard 
to  conceive  how  so  small  an  amount  of  money  could 
perform  a greater  amount  of  good. 

On  the  ground  of  satisfying  a natural  thirst  for 
drink,  then,  these  temperance  drinking-places  are  exert- 
ing a large  influence.  Unhappily,  however,  where  the 
morbid  appetite  for  liquor  begins,  this  competition 
ceases,  and  the  superior  attraction  of  the  alcoholic 
drink  can  be  met  only  by  the  provision  of  other  attrac- 
tions of  such  a kind  and  variety  that  they  will  overcome 
the  single  appeal  to  appetite.  Such,  in  a word,  is  the 
philosophy  underlying  the  coffee-house,  the  tea  saloon, 
the  temperance  tavern,  and  all  similar  institutions.  As 
against  the  bar  with  its  beer  and  whiskey,  there  is  a bar 
with  its  temperance  drinks,  and  in  addition  a well- 
stocked  reading-room,  a billiard-room,  a bowling-alley, 
and  perhaps  good  lodgings  and  wholesome  food,  — re- 
sources that  can  satisfy  not  only  the  normal  thirst,  but 
the  normal  desire  for  recreation  and  sociability  as  well. 

One  reason,  then,  for  the  failure  of  American  temper- 
ance drinking-places  has  been  that  they  have  attempted 
the  unequal  contest  of  meeting  the  saloon  with  temper- 
ance drinks  alone  without  adding  any  forms  of  attractive 
amusements.  The  inevitable  result  has  been  that  the 
demand  for  the  drinks  has  not  been  sufficient  to  warrant 
keeping  the  places  open,  to  say  nothing  of  paying 
expenses.  An  interesting  illustration  is  furnished  by 
the  coffee-house  movement  in  Boston.  The  original 
intention  was  to  offer  coffee  as  a substitute  for  beer, 
and  simple  forms  of  amusement  were  to  be  provided ; 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES.  221 


but  the  demand  for  coffee  was  so  small  that  its  sale  was 
discontinued,  and  at  present  the  coffee-houses  are  merely 
social  gathering  places  for  the  neighborhood  in  which 
they  are  located,  where  smoking  is  permitted,  and 
occasional  lectures  are  given.  Upon  the  basis  of  drink 
alone,  it  must  be  repeated,  no  successful  competition 
with  the  saloon  can  be  expected. 

Another  point  has  been  conclusively  proved  by  Ameri- 
can experiments,  and  that  is  that  any  charitable  or 
religious  motive  which  may  lie  behind  such  attempts 
as  these  to  rival  the  saloons  must  be  kept  well  in  the 
background.  To  indiscretion  in  this  particular  the 
failure  of  more  than  one  well-intentioned  enterprise 
may  be  attributed.  The  Church  Army  has  made  inter- 
esting attempts  to  provide  temperance  drinking-places 
in  avowed  rivalry  to  the  saloon.  Its  most  successful 
establishment  is  in  New  Haven,  where  at  the  present 
time  two  coffee-rooms  are  in  operation.  The  first  of 
these  is  on  Gregson  Street,  in  the  mercantile  section 
of  the  city,  the  other  on  Grand  Avenue,  a poorer  busi- 
ness district.  At  both  of  these  places  is  a coffee  bar, 
where  for  five  cents  one  gets  a good  cup  of  coffee, 
a plate  of  beans,  and  two  slices  of  bread.^  Two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  such  meals  are  served  daily  at  Gregson 
Street,  and  about  half  that  number  at  Grand  Avenue. 
Both  also  have  lodgings  connected  with  them,  the 
former  called  Sherman’s  Hotel.  Lodging  for  a night 
is  furnished  at  fifteen  cents,  single  rooms  are  rented 
by  the  week  at  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents.  There 
is  a social  and  smoking  room,  and  there  is  also  a 
small  chapel,  where  daily  evening  services  are  held. 

^ New  Haven  report. 


222 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


The  success  of  this  institution  can  be  attributed  to 
the  advantages  that  it  offers : good  food  at  low  prices, 
and  good  lodgings.  The  temperance  drinks  are  not  by 
any  means  the  most  important  feature  of  the  enter- 
prise. This  bears  out  what  has  already  been  said. 
In  addition  to  the  receipts,  one  thousand  dollars  has 
been  needed  for  rent  and  help,  which  has  been  contrib- 
uted from  outside  sources.  A feature  of  the  institution 
of  the  Church  Army  is  the  union  of  the  religious  and 
of  the  social  ideas.  In  New  Haven  this  has  not  proved 
to  be  offensive,  but  when  all  allowances  are  made  it 
will  be  found  unwise  to  connect  the  religious  activities 
with  an  experiment  of  this  kind.  The  ill  results  of 
this  combination  became  apparent  when  an  effort  was 
made  to  repeat  this  experiment  in  New  York  City, 
whei'e  a tea  saloon  was  formally  opened  on  Allen  Street. 
Cakes,  pies,  or  sandwiches,  in  addition  to  the  tea,  were 
served  without  extra  payment.  This  experiment  re- 
ceived a good  deal  of  advertisement.  It  was  announced 
as  an  open  rival  to  the  saloon,  and  at  first  its  patronage 
was  considerable.  But  the  enterprise  did  not  pretend 
to  be  a business  venture  merely.  It  was  to  be  a benevo- 
lence. Its  name.  Church  Army  Tea  Saloon,  was  hung 
out  in  brilliant  colors  on  a large  sign ; tea  missionaries 
were  to  teach  the  neighborhood  how  to  brew  the  best 
tea  at  the  least  expense.  Religious  services  w'ere  held 
every  evening  from  eight  to  lune  o’clock,  conducted  by 
a chaplain  of  the  Army,  or  his  assistants.  The  effect 
of  the  benevolent  and  religious  features  was  not  helpful. 
The  church  aspect  of  the  affair  -was  too  apparent.  In 
a few  months  the  patronage  of  the  place  had  consider- 
ably fallen  off,  and  at  last  the  plan  was  abandoned. 


LUNCH-ROQMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES. 


223 


Another  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  permanent  success 
of  these  exjjei’iments  has  been  the  matter  of  finance. 
No  one  of  the  establishments  that  has  been  mentioned, 
has  been  even  in  a fair  way  of  paying  its  expenses. 
The  price  of  drinks  has  been  put  so  low  that  no  profit 
has  resulted  from  which  to  pay  the  rental,  the  salaries 
of  employees,  and  the  expense  of  varied  attractions 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  are  essential  to  their  success. 
In  a word,  every  one  of  these  experiments  has  been  a 
charity,  in  that  it  has  depended  upon  private  gifts  for 
its  support.  A determined  effort  was  made  a few 
years  ago  in  the  city  of  Washington  to  see  if  one  of 
these  institutions  could  not  be  placed  upon  a paying 
basis.  The  results  of  this  experiment  are  especially 
important,  since  both  of  the  obstacles  above  referred 
to  were  carefully  avoided.  It  was  assumed  that  the 
patronage  of  the  place  would  depend  in  large  measure 
upon  attractions  other  than  the  temperance  drinks  to 
be  offered,  and  it  was  to  be  a business  and  not  a bene- 
volent or  religious  enterprise.  The  experiment  was 
intended,  in  the  words  of  its  promoter,  to  test  the  ques- 
tion whether  a temperance  saloon  could  be  made  to  pay 
a moderate  return  on  the  capital  invested,  or  if  not, 
whether  such  a saloon  could  be  even  made  to  pay  ex- 
penses. In  order  that  fair  conditions  should  prevail 
throughout,  a central  location  was  chosen,  and  nothing- 
on  the  exterior  indicated  that  this  was  other  than  an 
ordinary  bar-room.  No  effort  was  made  to  create  a 
“ high-toned  ” atmosphere  within.  A regular  barkeeper 
in  his  shirt-sleeves  stood  behind  a bar  of  ordinary  pat- 
tern, and  behind  him  wei-e  shelves  covered  with  bottles 
and  all  the  attractive  furnishings  to  be  found  in  bar- 


224 


SUBSTITUTES  FOB  THE  SALOON. 


rooms  elsewhere.  Tables  were  scattered  around,  papers 
and  games  were  supplied.  No  attempt  was  made  to 
improve  the  language  or  morals  of  the  customers  ; the 
only  perceptible  difference  between  this  and  any  other 
bar-room  lay  in  the  fact  that  no  alcoholic  liquors  could 
be  procured.  Two  pool  tables  were  provided,  for  using 
which  a small  charge  was  made.  The  experimenter  him- 
self very  rarely  visited  the  saloon,  lest  he  should  be  re- 
cognized and  customers  should  be  made  to  fear  that  they 
were  being  patronized,  or  that  some  effort  was  being 
made,  under  religious  auspices,  for  their  moral  improve- 
ment. It  is  not  believed  that  up  to  the  present  time 
the  frequenters  of  the  saloon  have  any  idea  that  it  was 
other  than  an  ordinary  commercial  venture.  All  ex- 
travagances of  expenditure  were  avoided.  The  initial 
cost  was  necessarily  somewhat  large.  Several  hundred 
dollars  were  expended  in  order  to  make  the  place  at- 
tractive, the  only  second-hand  articles  being  the  pool 
tables.  The  place  at  fii’st  was  looked  upon  in  the  light 
of  a curiosity,  but  in  time  it  came  to  be  regarded  as  a 
fixture  in  the  community,  and  had  its  own  regular  client- 
age. Because  of  the  lack  of  all  restraint,  the  language 
at  first  was  unsavory.  This  was  greatly  changed,  but  it 
was  a change  worked  by  degrees.  Some  of  the  fre- 
quenters were  known  to  be  men  who  had  formerly 
patronized  regular  bar-rooms,  but  apparently  enjoyed 
the  clearer  and  cleaner  atmosphere  found  within  this 
saloon.  One  fact  appeared  which  was  regarded  as 
more  than  a mere  coincidence  : a bar-room  two  doors 
away  which  had  been  doing  business  for  years  was 
closed  because  its  patronage  had  fallen  off  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  business  proved  unprofitable.  The 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES. 


225 


saloon  has  proved  a success  in  keeping  a certain  num- 
ber of  young  men  away  from  ordinary  bar-rooms  and 
giving  them  a place  where  their  evenings  could  be 
innocently  spent.  But  keeping  in  mind  the  fact  that 
the  whole  object  of  the  experimenter  was  to  find 
whether  a temperance  saloon  could  be  made  so  commer- 
cially profitable  as  to  invite  capital  and  naturally 
supersede  the  saloon,  it  must  be  said  that  the  results 
have  not  been  encouraging.  There  have  been  periods 
of  a month  or  two  when  the  receipts  were  sufficiently 
large  to  cover  the  expenses  and  to  give  a slight  profit, 
but  such  months  have  been  the  exception.  Indeed, 
without  the  pool  tables,  the  experiment  must  have  come 
to  an  end  some  time  ago.  The  demand  for  soft  drinks 
has  never  been  large,  and  the  gain  from  selling  them 
is  very  small.  On  alcoholic  liquors  in  the  ordinary 
saloon  the  pi’ofit  is  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  per  cent,  but  it  seldom  exceeds  fifty  per  cent 
on  soft  drinks.  Here  is  the  root  of  the  financial  diffi- 
culty. The  profit  from  temperance  drinks  alone  does 
not  more  than  pay  expenses. 

The  results  of  this  experiment  must  probably  be 
accepted  as  decisive,  since  every  condition  looking 
towards  independence  was  carefully  met.  The  further 
question  I’emains  to  be  answei’ed : Is  it  jDossible  to 
discover  a non-alcoholic  beverage  that  will  make  a 
profit,  or  an  alcoholic  drink  which  will  not  cause  in- 
toxication ? Several  of  these  beverages  have  been 
invented  and  placed  on  the  market.  Of  non-alcoholic 
drinks  we  have  Kop’s  Ale,  an  English  mixture.  Of 
alcoholic  drinks  we  have  French  coca  wine  or  the  cheap 
Alica  beer  containing  not  over  one  per  cent  of  alcohol, 


226 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


which  is  consumed  in  large  quantities  by  the  natives  of 
the  North  End,  Boston.  Other  drinks  have  been 
devised  from  time  to  time  by  temperance  workers  in 
the  hope  of  solving  the  problem. 

The  most  interesting  of  these  experiments  has  been 
the  Home  Salon,  conducted  by  Bishop  Fallows  in 
Chicago.  His  institution,  like  the . Washington  tem- 
perance saloon,  was  a purely  business  enterprise,  but 
in  addition  a beverage  was  sold  which  he  trusted 
would  meet  the  conditions  of  the  problem.  All  the 
attractive  features  of  the  saloon  were  retained  excejit 
alcoholic  beverages.  Indeed,  the  location  selected  was 
a room  formerly  occupied  by  one  of  the  notorious 
saloons  of  the  city.  The  wine-rooms  in  it  were  torn 
down,  but  the  other  apjiurtenances,  such  as  the  bar 
and  shelves,  were  allowed  to  remain.  A kind  of  drink 
composed  of  pure  malt  and  hops  carbonized  was  ^Ji  o- 
vided  after  careful  experiment  by  competent  chemists  ; 
it  was  absolutely  non-alcoholic.  It  sustained  the  same 
relation  to  the  ordinary  beer  that  unfermented  wine 
does  to  the  vinous  substance.  All  the  so-called  soft 
drinks  were  furnished  besides  tea  and  coffee.  A good 
luncheon  was  served  at  a moderate  cost.  At  one  end 
of  the  lunch-room  men  could  smoke  if  they  desired. 
There  were  newspapers,  magazines,  games,  with  occa- 
sional music.  Such  was  the  Home  Salon,  but  it  failed. 
The  “ Bishop’s  beer,”  as  the  di-ink  was  called,  proved 
after  protracted  trial  that  it  must  be  used  within  a 
week  or  two  after  manufacturing  to  be  perfectly  free 
from  the  traces  of  alcohol.  This  was  not  always  possi- 
ble, and  so  it  proved  to  be  just  alcoholic  enough  to 
require  a license.  Bishops  Fallows  himself  ascribes 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES. 


227 


the  failure  of  the  experiment,  aside  from  the  cause 
that  has  been  given,  to  poor  management.  He  was 
unable  himself,  on  account  of  absence  from  the  city, 
carefully  to  supervise  the  affair,  which  was  turned  over 
to  some  young  men  to  be  can-ied  on  in  another  part 
of  the  city ; but  without  capital  they  were  unable  to 
cai’ry  on  the  business.  The  experiment,  at  any  rate, 
did  not  succeed  in  evolving  a beverage  which  will  pay 
a sufficient  profit  without  being  alcoholic. 

To  sum  up,  then,  the  lessons  taught  by  these  attempts 
to  provide  attractive  temperance  drinking-places  as 
substitutes  for  the  saloon,  we  find  the  essentials  for  the 
success  of  any  such  enterprise  to  be  the  following  : 1. 
A large  variety  in  the  drinks  and  other  attractions, 
such  as  reading  and  smoking  facilities,  billiard  tables, 
cheap  food,  and  even  lodgings.  2.  The  absence  not 
only  of  a religious  but  of  a benevolent  aspect  from  the 
enterprise.  3.  A capable  business  manager  who  shall 
conduct  the  establishment  so  as  to  place  it  upon  a pay- 
ing basis  if  possible.  4.  A sufficient  initial  investment 
of  capital  to  cover  the  losses  of  the  first  few  experimen- 
tal months,  and  to  start  a number  of  establishments,  in 
order  that  the  losses  from  some  of  them  may  be  made 
good  by  the  gains  from  others.  When  these  conditions 
have  been  realized,  such  establishments  may  expect  to 
pay  all  running  expenses,  but  hardly  a dividend  on  cap- 
ital invested. 

Another  plan  has  been  suggested.  It  has  been  pro- 
posed that  temperance  saloons  recognize  the  demand 
for  alcoholic  stimulants  as  legitimate  and  provide  good 
beer  and  light  wines  to  be  sold  with  discretion  and  with 
no  attempt  to  make  a profit.  This  plan  has  been  advo- 


228 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


cated  by  some  most  interested  in  temperance  reform, 
and  is  already  in  operation  in  England.  An  account 
of  this  English  experiment  is  given  in  the  next  chapter. 

But  the  saloon  is  not  only  a drink  establishment;  it 
has  become  a food  depot  as  well.  It  satisfies  daily  not 
only  the  thirst  but  the  hunger  of  thousands  of  people. 
The  truth  of  this  proposition  is  entirely  independent  of 
the  vexed  question  of  the  nutritive  properties  of  alco- 
hol. It  is  true  that  a hard  drinker  subsists  on  a mini- 
mum of  food,  which  is  readily  supplied  hy  the  free 
lunch.  It  is  also  true  that  the  food  provided  at  home 
for  the  wage-earner  is  often  of  a quality  which  predis- 
poses him  for  the  taste  of  liquor.  Those  who  have  had 
the  best  opportunities  for  observing  the  conditions  of 
living  of  the  poorer  classes  are  unanimous  in  their 
belief  that  men  whose  wives  are  intelligent  and  capa- 
ble women  are  much  less  apt  to  frequent  the  sa- 
loons. Wholesome  and  tasteful  food  at  home  will 
do  more  to  promote  temperance  among  wage-earners 
than  any  number  of  tea  saloons  or  coffee-houses.  But 
the  poorer  workingwomen  often  know  little  or  nothing 
about  cooking.  Fried  food  and  strong  coffee  form  the 
bulk  of  the  American  workingman’s  diet.  This  causes 
indisrestion,  and  of  itself  fosters  a thirst  for  stimulants 
which  the  saloon  readily  supplies.  At  the  beginning, 
this  must  be  a work  of  education.  Fortunately  the 
materials  for  popular  instruction  upon  the  most  nutri- 
tive and  wholesome  food  products  and  the  best  methods 
of  preparing  them  are  already  at  hand.  The  United 
States  government  is  interesting  itself  in  the  question 
of  the  diet  of  the  people  ; private  philanthropy  has 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES. 


229 


been  busy  witb  its  investigations,  its  cooking  classes, 
and  its  model  kitchens.  Of  all  this  activity  it  need 
only  be  said  that  it  is  attacking  the  saloon  at  a most 
vulnerable  point.  Churches,  settlements,  and  all  other 
benevolent  agencies  can  do  no  more  radical  and  funda- 
mental work  towards  the  solution  of  the  temperance 
problem  than  by  promoting  scientific  instruction  upon 
the  selection  and  proper  preparation  of  food  for  the 
wage-earner. 

One  has  only  to  refer  to  the  discussion  of  the  saloon 
free  lunch  to  become  convinced  of  the  extent  to  which 
the  saloons  in  all  our  large  cities  operate  as  food  dis- 
tributing establishments.  It  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  the 
demonsti-ation  at  this  point.  The  popularity  of  the  free 
lunch  lies  in  the  fact  that  one  can  obtain  sufficient  food, 
and  drink  besides,  for  the  same  price  that  the  simplest 
meal  would  cost  at  any  cheap  restaurant.  Even  where 
the  free  lunch  is  the  least  abundant  and  attractive,  it 
still  provides  sufficient  nourishment  to  satisfy  the  hun- 
ger of  multitudes  of  workingmen.  It  is  evident,  then, 
that  temperance  eating-places  begin  to  operate  as  saloon 
substitutes  only  when  they  offer  food  of  such  a quality, 
or  at  such  a price,  or  under  such  conditions,  that  the 
added  attraction  of  the  drink  is  more  than  counter-bal- 
anced in  the  mind  of  the  purchaser.  This  statement 
would  preclude  from  the  list  of  direct  substitutes  all 
lunch-rooms  and  restaurants  which  offer  no  such  induce- 
ments, or  whose  patronage  is  drawn  from  that  j^ortion 
of  the  population  which  do  not  frequent  the  saloons. 

Of  cheap  lunch-rooms  and  restaurants  every  city  has 
an  abundance.  As  a rule,  they  are  of  two  classes  : either 
they  provide  good  meals,  well  cooked  and  decently 


230 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


served,  at  the  usual  rate  of  twenty-five  cents,  or  at  a 
minimum  of  fifteen  cents  (only  in  rare  instances  ten 
cents)  ; or  else  they  attempt  to  offer  sufficient  food  to 
satisfy  the  hunger  at  even  a lower  rate,  hut  invariably 
under  conditions  so  repellent  that  the  ordinary  saloon 
seems  very  attractive  in  comparison.  Now  it  is  evident 
that  neither  of  these  classes  of  restaurants  can  he 
called  in  any  legitimate  sense  a saloon  substitute,  for 
neither  will  attract  saloon  patrons  to  it : the  first,  be- 
cause its  price  is  too  high  ; the  second,  because  its 
food  is  too  poor.  Thus  it  may  be  seen  how  little  is  the 
real  competition  that  exists  between  the  saloon  and  the 
cheap  eating-places,  and  how  securely  the  saloon  holds 
the  field  as  the  feeder  of  all  who  have  acquired  the 
taste  for  liquor  and  have  thus  become  patrons  of  the 
saloon.  On  a single  street  in  Chicago,  frequented  by 
wage-earners,  there  are,  in  a distance  of  four  miles, 
but  eight  restaurants  for  poor  men,  and  all  of  these  are 
unattractive.  In  the  same  four  miles  there  are  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  saloons,  nearly  aU  of  which  furnish 
free  lunches,  together  with  all  the  other  attractions  of 
the  Chicago  saloon.  Standing  at  a street  corner  near 
large  business  or  factory  establishments  at  a noon  hour 
one  may  count  the  number  of  men  that  go  straight 
from  their  work  to  a saloon  for  luncheon.  They  will 
outnumber,  ten  to  one,  those  that  enter  any  eating- 
house  in  the  vicinity. 

There  are  a few  restaurants,  however,  in  at  least  some 
of  our  cities  which  may  be  regarded  as  saloon  substi- 
tutes. Occasionally  five-cent  eating-places  have  been 
found  which  offer  enough  food  to  satisfy  the  hunger 
under  sufficiently  attractive  conditions.  Five  years 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES. 


231 


ago  such  places  could  be  found  in  Boston  when  the  Bos- 
ton Lunch  Company  was  doing  business.  This  was 
partly  a philanthropic  and  partly  a business  enterprise. 
The  idea  was  to  furnish  a substantial  lunch  for  five 
cents  under  pleasant  conditions,  and  yet  in  such  a man- 
ner as  to  exclude  the  thought  of  charity.  To  provide 
good  food  and  comfort,  with  plants,  pictures,  and,  most 
difficult  of  all,  a little  good  cheer,  and  music,  if  possible, 
was  the  purpose  of  the  promoters  of  the  enterprise. 
The  experiment  continued  for  over  two  years.  Estab- 
lishments were  opened  in  different  parts  of  the  city. 
The  patronage  was  uniformly  large,  often  estimated 
as  high  as  fifteen  hundred  a day,  but  the  experiment 
has  not  been  a financial  success,  and  the  concern  has 
since  discontinned  its  business.  Denver  has  two  lunch- 
connters  where  for  five  cents  one  can  have  a hot  meat 
pie  or  pork  and  beans  with  a roll,  a bowl  of  soujd  or  of 
oat-meal  and  milk  with  bread,  two  eggs  fried  or  scram- 
bled, or  any  kind  of  sandwich.  The  average  daily  pat- 
ronage of  these  places,  according  to  the  estimates  of 
the  proprietors,  is  1785.  One  could  hardly  fail  to  class 
them  among  the  effective  saloon  substitutes  existing  in 
Denver.  In  San  Erancisco  the  situation  is  very  pecul- 
iar. Here  the  saloons,  by  virtue  of  their  free  lunch, 
have  really  become  restaurants,  and  the  restaurants,  in 
order  to  do  any  business,  have  taken  to  selling  liquor. 
On  account  of  the  comparative  cheapness  of  meat  and 
vegetables,  it  is  possible  for  saloons  to  offer  a substan- 
tial meal  with  a five-cent  drink.  Hence  it  seems  im- 
possible for  a man  to  obtain  as  much  for  his  money  in 
any  eating-place  as  he  can  in  the  saloon.  Temperance 
restaurants  in  San  Francisco,  then,  are  not  so  easy  to 


232 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


find  as  one  might  imagine.  When  they  do  exist,  they 
feel  keenly  the  competition  of  the  free  lunch,  and  really 
offer  less  for  the  same  amount  of  money.  The  only 
apparent  exception  is  the  weU-known  New  Economy 
restaurant,  which  probably  deserves  the  distinction  of 
offering  more  good  food  for  the  money  than  any  other 
restaurant  in  San  Francisco,  if  not  in  America.  The 
proprietor  owes  his  success  to  the  fact  that  he  is  a well- 
known  character,  and  his  large  patronage  enables  him 
to  make  a profit.  The  following  five-cent  dishes  are 
served  with  coffee,  tea,  or  milk  : small  steak,  small 
hamburger,  pork  and  beans,  corned  beef  hash,  ham  or 
bacon. 

These  few  lunch-rooms  may  be  sajid  to  compete  with 
the  saloon  on  account  of  the  low  price  of  the  good  food 
they  offer.  A few  others  may  be  put  in  the  same  class 
because  of  other  attractions  that  they  offer  with  the 
food.  It  is  very  rare  in  any  city  of  the  country  to  find 
restaurants  with  reading-rooms  or  smoking-rooms  at- 
tached. The  reason  is  evident.  There  is  no  gain  to 
the  proprietor  in  having  his  customer  linger  after  his 
hunger  has  been  satisfied,  for  his  place  is  needed  for 
the  next  comer,  and  no  inducement  is  held  out  for  him 
to  remain.  Indeed,  the  rapidity  with  which  food  is  con- 
sumed is  a characteristic  of  our  American  eating-places. 
A premium  seems  to  be  put  upon  haste.  The  idea  ap- 
parently uppermost  in  the  mind  of  a man  entering  an 
American  restaurant  is  to  see  how  quickly  he  can  make 
his  escape.  The  element  of  sociability  is  very  rarely 
found  in  eating-places  of  any  description.  Among  the 
foreign  population  of  our  cities,  however,  restaurants 
are  frequently  social  centres.  In  the  Italian  quarters 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES. 


233 


of  any  large  city  may  be  found  small  lunch-rooms 
where  no  stronger  liquor  is  sold  than  bottled  tonics. 
Cigars,  light  drinks,  lunches,  oysters,  and  fruit  form 
the  stock  in  trade.  A room  on  the  ground  floor  with 
plenty  of  chairs  and  tables  makes  the  place  seem  not 
unlike  a saloon  except  that  the  beer  odor  is  not  present. 
Here  in  the  evening  and  late  afternoon  the  men  loaf 
and  smoke  and  play  cards.  These  places  are  run  for 
profit,  and  the  aim  is  simply  to  provide  a loafing-place, 
with  temperance  drinks  and  a cold  or  hot  lunch,  and 
in  this  they  succeed.  They  are  not  conscious  rivals  of 
the  saloon,  and  a majority  of  their  patrons  are  probably 
saloon  patrons  as  well ; but  at  least  they  suggest  how  the 
problem  is  to  be  met  by  adding  the  element  of  sociabil- 
ity and  comfort  to  the  bare  provision  of  food.  Occa- 
sionally local  conditions  produce  a restaurant  of  this 
kind.  In  New  York,  for  examjfle,  the  bakery  restau- 
rants not  infrequently  add  social  features.  Most  of 
them  are  plain  in  their  appointments.  On  Grand  Street 
there  are  a few  which  are  more  elaborately  furnished. 
These  are  particularly  well  patronized  after  the  thea- 
tres close  at  night.  There  are  others  which  cater  par- 
ticularly to  the  noonday  trade,  and  again  others  where 
breakfast  is  the  only  meal  of  much  account ; but 
all  of  them  provide  tables,  where  one  may  smoke  or 
talk  or  read  in  peace.  In  Denver  a single  lunch-room 
was  discovered  which  provided  for  the  social  needs  of 
its  patrons  ; but  although  a most  unpretentious  place,  it 
furnished,  for  the  section  of  the  city  in  which  it  was 
located,  almost  the  only  social  centre  apai’t  from  the 
saloons.  Separated  from  the  lunch-counter  by  sliding 
curtains  is  a reading-room.  The  condition  of  the  tat- 


234 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


tered  papers  and  mutilated  books  testifies  to  the  vigor 
and  frequency  with  which  they  have  been  used.  There 
is  usually  only  a small  number  of  men  present  during 
the  daytime,  but  their  number  increases  about  six 
o’clock,  and  an  hour  later  the  room  is  full,  and  from 
that  time  until  ten  or  eleven  o’clock  the  capacity  of  the 
little  reading-room  is  strained  to  accommodate  all  of  its 
patrons.  An  inteiwal  of  two  miles  separates  this  little 
reading-room  from  the  nearest  temperance  resort  of  any 
kind,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  section  of  the  city  is 
very  populous.  Yet  within  half  a block  are  four  sa- 
loons which  seem  to  owe  the  greater  part  of  their  trade 
to  the  lack  of  other  social  centres  to  compete  wdth  them. 

It  may  be  seen  from  this  re\dew  how  few  are  the  eat- 
ing-places which  ever  offer  food  at  low  enough  prices 
or  under  attractive  enough  conditions  to  make  them 
real  rivals  of  the  saloon.  It  is  also  apparent  that  un- 
der normal  conditions  the  free  lunch  cannot  be  success- 
fully combated  and  at  the  same  time  a margin  be  left 
for  profits.  It  is  the  sale  of  liquor  which  enables  the 
saloon  to  offer  food  to  its  patrons.  In  order  to  make  a 
living,  the  restaurant-keeper  is  obliged  to  place  such  a 
price  upon  the  food  or  to  serve  it  under  conditions  so 
unattractive  as  to  leave  the  free  lunch  practically  un- 
rivaled. But  if  the  element  of  profits  can  be  elim- 
inated, then  the  price  can  be  lowered  and  the  attrac- 
tions made  sufficient  to  overcome  the  advantages  held 
out  by  the  saloon.  The  food  can  then  be  sold  prac- 
tically at  cost,  and  the  gTeater  cleanliness  and  supe- 
rior service  at  the  restaurant  make  themselves  felt. 
Sometimes  these  advantages  exist  separately ; some- 
times they  are  combined.  In  either  case,  the  eating- 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES. 


235 


places  so  condiicted  become  formidable  rivals  to  tbe 
saloon  as  food  centres  and  social  centres  as  well. 

Very  frequently  eating-places  of  this  character  are 
conducted  by  missions  of  different  kinds,  where  the 
chief  attraction  is  the  low  price  of  the  food  offered.  In 
Boston,  for  example,  at  the  West  End  there  is  a mis- 
sion which  conducts  a low-priced  restaurant  as  a part 
of  its  establishment.  The  room  itself,  which  is  below 
the  line  of  the  sidewalk,  is  bare  and  dingy ; there  is  no 
attempt  at  decoration.  The  floor  is  covered  with  saw- 
dust, and  the  deal  tables  are  without  cloth.  Cleanli- 
ness, however,  is  noticeable  throughout,  and  it  is  the 
absurdly  small  price  which  attracts  its  large  patronage, 
a patronage  sufficient  in  this  case  to  pay  the  expenses, 
including  the  rental  of  the  room  and  the  salary  of  the 
superintendent.  Another  institution  of  the  same  kind 
is  carried  on  by  the  Helping  Hand  Mission  of  San 
Francisco.  Here  vegetarian  meals  are  served  to  an 
average  of  three  hundred  men  a day.  Each  article  on 
the  bill  of  fare  costs  a cent,  and  for  five  cents  a hungry 
man  can  be  filled.  Again,  the  patronage  is  accounted 
for  by  the  extremely  low  price  of  the  food. 

In  Philadelphia,  we  find  conspicuous  illustrations  of 
this  type  of  restaurant  which  have  been  conducted  on 
a larger  scale  and  for  a longer  time  than  elsewhere  in 
the  country.  The  oldest  one  is  Bailey’s  Coffee  House, 
which  has  been  in  existence  for  twenty  - five  years. 
Before  the  advent  of  the  cheap  restaurant,  Mr.  Bailey 
served  in  his  two  establishments  as  many  as  six  thou- 
sand people  a day.  The  patronage  of  the  present 
coffee-house  is  about  one  thousand.  No  attempt  is 
made  to  secure  a profit.  Everything  which  goes  into 


236 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


the  place  is  paid  out  again  in  food  of  the  best  quality, 
which  is  neatly  served  and  in  large  orders.  The  superior 
quality  and  quantity  of  the  food  and  the  attractive  con- 
ditions under  which  it  is  served  have  succeeded  in  giv- 
ing the  place  a very  large  constituency.  Mr.  Bailey 
himself  is  of  the  opinion  that  four  conditions  are  neces- 
sary for  the  success  of  such  an  enterprise.  First,  it 
must  be  so  placed  as  to  compete  for  a large  custom ; 
second,  it  must  be  run  by  one  person,  or,  at  most,  by 
a small  board  of  managers ; third,  the  philanthropic 
character  must  be  kept  out  of  sight ; and  fourth,  no 
attempt  must  be  made  to  make  money.  Another  in- 
stitution of  the  same  kind  existing  in  Philadelphia  is 
the  Star  Kitchen,  at  first  conducted  in  connection  with 
a settlement,  but  now  under  separate  management. 
Here  again  the  object  is  to  attract  from  the  saloons 
by  offering  food  of  such  a quantity  and  at  such  a 
price  as  to  overcome  the  added  attraction  of  liquor, 
and  once  more  the  idea  of  profit  has  been  given  up  in 
order  to  make  this  a possibility.  The  dining-room  is 
attractive,  well  lighted  and  ventilated,  and  spotlessly 
clean.  There  are  some  good  pictures  on  the  wall ; a 
fireidace  and  a sideboard  filled  with  dishes  give  the 
place  a homelike  appearance.  Pretty  blue  china  and 
all  needful  accessories  make  the  table  service  thor- 
oughly attractive.  The  princi23al  waiter  is  a German 
who  has  been  in  the  'hotel  business  for  twenty  years, 
who  knows  the  people  in  the  neighborhood,  recognizes 
them,  jokes  with  them,  and  makes  them  feel  at  home. 
Thus  the  good  food,  the  attractive  suri’oundings,  and, 
above  all,  the  good  service,  are  gradually  aj^i^ealing  to 
the  peojde,  and  compete  directly  with  the  saloon  lunch  : 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES. 


237 


but  it  is  not  at  present  even  upon  a paying  basis,  the 
deficit  being  made  up  from  outside  subscriptions.  The 
Lighthouse,  which  has  been  mentioned  in  another  con- 
nection, also  offers  attractive  meals  at  cost,  for  the 
neighborhood.  It  does  not  run  for  profits,  and  has  no 
rent  to  pay  and  no  taxes,  and  hence  it  has  succeeded 
in  drawing  from  the  neighboring  saloons  hundreds  of 
men  who  now  take  their  meals  at  a temperance  res- 
taurant. 

Two  other  interesting  and  successful  experiments 
have  been  made  by  the  Church  Temperance  Society 
of  New  York.  In  both  of  them  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  idea  of  cash  profit  has  been  abandoned,  but  in 
each  case  the  running  expenses  have  been  easily  paid. 
A few  years  ago  the  liquor  dealers  of  that  city  tried  to 
obtain  two  hundred  all-night  licenses  on  the  ground 
that  conditions  of  life  in  a great  city  made  such  re- 
freshment as  the  saloon  affords  a necessity  during  the 
night  hours.  This  suggested  the  propriety  of  estab- 
lishing temperance  refreshment  places  to  meet  just 
this  need,  and  the  night  lunch  wagons  were  the  result. 
These  wagons  cost  $1000  each,  and  were  placed  in 
locations  where  cheap  restaurants  were  scarce,  and 
where  large  numbers  of  men  passed  going  to  work 
very  early  or  very  late.  The  experiment  has  con- 
tinued now  for  ten  years  and  has  been  most  successful. 
The  customers  have  come  from  all  classes  and  trades, 
— hackmen,  printers,  laborers,  clerks,  messengers,  and 
from  the  large  floating  23oj)ulation  to  be  found  on  the 
street  at  nighttime.  The  average  amount  expended 
has  been  ten  cents,  and  in  1899,  from  the  six  wagons 
in  operation,  205,000  of  these  meals  were  supplied 


238 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


from  January  to  October.  The  bill  of  fare  included 
bot  veal,  steak  and  oyster  pies,  hot  or  cold  beans,  frank- 
forts,  sandwiches,  with  coffee,  tea,  cocoa,  milk,  or  soda 
for  drinks.  No  endeavor  was  make  to  undersell  the 
ordinary  cheap  restaurants.  The  experiment  has 
proved  a financial  success.  During  the  first  year  and 
with  only  one  wagon,  the  expenses  exceeded  the  in- 
come by  nearly  flOOO,  but  as  the  number  of  wagons 
was  increased,  and  as  they  came  to  be  better  known, 
the  deficit  became  a surplus.  The  other  experiment  is 
even  more  interesting.  It  was  suggested  to  the  offi- 
cers of  the  society  that  from  November  to  May,  when 
large  numbers  of  entertainments  were  given  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  coachmen  and  cabmen  necessarily  waited 
for  many  hours  during  the  late  night  or  early  morn- 
ing for  whom  the  open  saloon  provided  an  attrac- 
tive shelter.  To  meet  this,  a Coachmen’s  Coffee  Van 
was  provided,  supplying  them  with  hot  coffee  and 
sandwiches  to  be  paid  for  by  the  host.  A second  and 
more  convenient  van  is  being  built  which  will  enable 
the  society  to  provide  hot  coffee  gratis  for  motor-men 
during  snowstorms  and  blixzards. 

Let  it  be  accepted,  then,  as  thoroughly  demonstrated 
that  so  soon  as  the  idea  of  profits  is  abandoned,  a well- 
conducted  lunch-room  of  any  kind  can  compete  directly 
and  successfully  with  the  saloon  free  lunch.  This  fact 
is  of  itself  a great  encouragement,  and  ought  to  stimu- 
late without  any  delay  activity  in  this  branch  of  tem- 
perance work.  It  will  fall  to  churches,  temperance 
organizations,  and  pi’ivate  philanthi’opy,  that  ai’e  not 
looking  for  a return  on  capital  invested,  to  form  lunch- 
room or  coffee-house  associations,  and  plant  these  res- 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES.  239 


taiirants  in  locations  where  saloons  are  abundant  and 
the  saloon  free  lunch  is  drawing  all  the  trade.  An 
illustration  of  what  may  be  done  at  any  time  in  this 
direction  was  furnished  a year  or  two  ago  in  the  city 
of  Cleveland.  A woman  passing  through  one  of  the 
great  factory  districts  noticed  multitudes  of  men  going 
at  the  noon  hour  into  the  neighboring  saloons.  All 
of  them  were  advertising  a hot  lunch,  which  was 
offered  free  with  two  glasses  of  beer.  She  deter- 
mined to  open  a lunch-room  and  compete  with  the 
saloons  for  this  trade.  The  lower  floor  of  a double 
tenement  house  next  door  to  the  largest  saloon  was 
rented ; long  wooden  tables  covered  with  white  oil- 
cloth, chairs,  and  flags  for  decoration  were  the  only 
furnishings.  A sign,  “ The  Flag  Coffee  House,”  was 
put  up  outside,  and  the  next  day  twenty-three  men 
passed  the  saloons  and  entered  the  new  restaurant. 
The  number  increased  until  the  saloons  began  to 
furnish  a good  dinner  consisting  of  soup,  meat,  veg- 
etables, and  pie,  free  with  two  drinks.  To  meet  this 
move,  the  “ Flag  ” advertised  a “ Hotel  Dinner  for  Ten 
Cents,”  and  the  next  day  within  five  minutes  after  the 
factory  whistle  blew,  every  seat  was  fllled.  The  patron- 
age continued  to  increase  until  standing  room  was  at 
a premium.  Men  would  run  for  a seat.  Steaming 
pitchers  of  hot  coffee,  and  good  bread  and  butter  were 
placed  on  the  tables,  and  the  men  were  invited  to  help 
themselves  to  any  quantity.  In  addition,  a meal  was 
served  consisting  of  a bowl  of  soup,  one  kind  of  meat, 
two  vegetables,  and  a simple  dessert.  The  conduct  of 
the  men  was  uniformly  good,  and  in  this  ease  the  run- 
ning expenses  were  paid,  including  the  rent.  Here, 


240 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


then,  is  conclusive  proof  of  what  can  be  done  in  the 
way  of  saloon  competition.  It  shows  plainly  that  it 
is  the  lunch  which  attracts  hundreds  to  the  saloon,  and 
that  this  patronage  can  be  drawn  away  by  offering  an 
eating-place  and  a sufficient  quantity  of  good  food  at 
saloon  prices. 

But  the  most  encouraging  experiment  that  has  been 
made  in  this  direction  remains  to  be  mentioned.  The 
development  of  the  ethical  side  of  factory  management 
has  been  spoken  of  in  another  place,  but  nothing  that 
the  manufacturers  of  the  country  have  done  for  their 
employees  has  exceeded  in  practical  usefulness  the 
provision  by  the  company  of  good  meals  at  low  prices. 
By  this  simple  means  the  comfort  and  morals  of  the 
men  have  been  noticeably  improved,  and  often  saloons 
in  the  neighborhood  have  been  literally  forced  out  of 
business.  In  no  city  of  the  country  has  this  beneficent 
experiment  been  more  successfully  tried  than  in  Cleve- 
land. It  began,  it  may  be  interesting  to  note,  in  the 
very  section  where  the  large  coffee-house  had  done  so 
well.  The  Sherwin-Williams  Company  was  the  first 
to  try  this  plan.^  Two  years  ago  a room  was  fitted  up 
in  their  factory  for  this  purpose.  It  is  clean  and  well 
lig-hted  and  furnished  with  tables  and  chairs.  An 
employee  can  get  a hot  cup  of  coffee  free  ; he  can  buy 
the  rest  of  his  meal  at  the  very  moderate  rate  of  from 
six  to  eight  cents,  or  he  can  bring  his  own  food  and  eat 
it  at  one  of  the  tables.  Other  firms  have  adojDted  a 
similar  plan  during  the  last  year.  The  list  of  such 
places  now  includes  the  Cleveland  Hardware  Co.,  the 
Cleveland  Twist  Drill  Co.,  the  Cleveland  Ship-Build- 

1 From  the  Cleveland  report. 


LUNCH-ROOMS  AND  COFFEE-HOUSES. 


241 


ing  Co.,  the  Cleveland  Window  Glass  Co.,  the  Root  & 
McBride  Co.,  and  the  National  Wire  Works.  The 
chief  objection  that  any  manufacturer  will  urge  is 
lack  of  space,  but  this  problem  has  been  solved  by  the 
Cleveland  Hardware  Co.  They  had  no  lunch-room, 
but  opened  a kitchen  in  one  of  their  smaller  unused 
buildings.  Folding  tables  are  now  provided  to  each 
set  of  six  or  more  men  who  apply,  and  these  are  set 
up  in  different  corners  of  the  factory  behind  machines 
and  benches.  These  six  men  appoint  a monitor,  who 
takes  the  order  from  the  other  men,  goes  to  the 
kitchen,  and  receives  the  different  lunches  in  baskets, 
which  he  takes  to  the  tables.  The  monitor  is  allowed 
to  stop  work  five  minutes  before  the  whistle  blows, 
and  in  this  way  a great  rush  is  avoided.  By  this 
means  about  four  hundred  men  are  served  a day,  and 
as  a rule  the  serving  is  done  within  ten  minutes  after 
the  whistle  blows.  Nothing  is  served  free.  A pint  of 
coffee  is  given  for  a penny,  however,  and  on  this  money 
is  lost,  as  the  finest  coffee  that  can  be  found  is  used. 
The  balance  of  the  bill  of  fare  is  as  follows : Sand- 
wiches, all  kinds,  two  cents  each  ; hamburg  steak,  one 
slice  of  bread,  two  cents ; pork  sausage,  one  slice  of 
bread,  two  cents ; pork  and  beans,  one  slice  of  bread, 
three  cents ; half-dozen  crackers  and  cheese,  two 
cents ; pie,  all  kinds,  three  cents  a slice ; tablespoon- 
ful mashed  potato,  one  cent ; meats,  with  one  slice  of 
bread,  six  cents  ; puddings,  three  cents ; oyster  soup 
(on  Friday),  five  cents  per  plate ; other  soups,  two 
and  three  cents.  A single  illustration  will  show  how 
all  this  activity  has  affected  the  saloons.  A man  who 
formerly  spent  as  much  as  twelve  dollars  a fortnight 


242 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


at  a near-by  saloon  now  says  be  scarcely  spends  a 
cent.  When  one  Or  two  of  the  other  large  concerns  in 
the  vicinity  adopt  the  same  plan,  the  saloon  will  be 
obliged  to  leave  the  neighborhood.  It  is  impossible  to 
compute  the  good  which  this  simple  practical  experi- 
ment has  already  accomplished.  It  ought  to  be  re- 
peated by  every  manufacturing  establishment  where 
the  employees  are  at  present  spending  their  money  in 
the  saloons. 

This,  then,  closes  an  examination  of  practical  meth- 
ods of  combating  the  saloon  from  the  side  of  food  and 
di’ink.  The  conditions  in  our  American  cities  do  not 
warrant  the  assertion  that  temperance  eating  and 
drmking  places  can  successfully  compete  with  the 
saloon  as  it  now  exists  and  still  give  a profit  on  the 
capital  invested.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  the  saloon  can  be  successfully 
met,  and  great  good  result  from  the  establishment  of 
such  places  by  capital  which  does  not  look  for  a profit 
if  conducted  on  the  principles  that  have  been  sug- 
gested. 


CHAPTER  X. 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES. 

No  method  of  competing  with  the  saloon  has  been 
more  successful  in  England  and  on  the  Continent  than 
that  of  providing  coffee-houses  and  similar  resorts. 
This  movement  has  attained  such  dimensions  and  from 
every  point  of  view  has  been  so  successful  as  to  merit 
special  attention  in  a discussion  of  this  branch  of  tem- 
perance reform.  In  Russia,  the  government  has  un- 
dertaken the  establishment  of  tea  taverns.  One  of 
the  most  interesting  exhibits  at  the  Paris  Exposition 
was  that  of  the  Russian  temperance  movement,  aided  by 
the  imperial  government,  which  aims  to  supplant  the 
fiery  vodka  by  less  dangerous  drinks,  while  supplying 
the  need  of  sociability,  which  is  the  stronghold  of  the 
saloon  everywhere.  A model  tea-house,  just  as  it  exists 
in  numberless  Russian  villages,  shows  how  the  work  is 
done.  It  is  a room  fitted  up  with  a “ bar  ” at  one  end 
and  a counter  at  the  other  for  papers  and  periodicals, 
with  bookcases  against  the  wall,  the  ever  present  Rus- 
sian samovar,  or  huge  brass  tea-urn,  and  in  the  middle, 
tables  at  which  the  tea  or  barley-brew  (kvass)  may  be 
drunk  at  leisure  over  a game  of  dominoes  or  checkers. 
The  price  of  tea,  sugar,  the  slice  of  lemon  indispensable 
in  Russia,  and  a kettle  of  boiling  water  is  about  two 
cents.  In  1899  the  government  spent  one  million  dol- 
lars in  support  of  these  temperance  taverns. 


244 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


The  temperance  drinking-places  provided  in  Norway 
and  Sweden  in  connection  with  the  Scandinavian 
method  of  controlling  the  saloon  have  been  uniformly 
successful,  but  it  is  in  England  that  the  coffee-house 
movement  has  had  the  most  conspicuous  career  and 
has  exerted  the  widest  influence. 

It  is  difficult  to  give  an  authoritative  statement  in 
regard  to  the  history  and  present  development  of  the 
English  Coffee-House  System,  because  the  leaders  of 
the  movement  have  not  chosen  to  summarize  their 
operations  or  to  issue  statistics.^  The  development  of 
the  movement  has  been  so  rapid  that  it  has  precluded 
the  possibility  of  doing  so  with  exactitude  and  authori- 
tativeness. Then,  too,  while  there  is  a spirit  of  cordial 
cooperation  between  the  different  companies,  the  work 
in  the  main  is  done  with  pronounced  independence. 
Competition  is  becoming  more  and  more  sharp,  so 
much  so  that  the  National  Association  has  come  to 
protest  against  any  charitable  enterprises  that  sell 
below  cost  and  so  drive  to  the  w^all  those  conducting 
commercial  enterprises  for  financial  profit. 

The  first  coffee-house  in  Great  Britain  was  probably 
the  Workingmen’s  Coffee  House  of  Dundee,  Scotland, 
founded  in  1853,  when  for  the  first  time  we  find  a com- 
bination of  reading-room  and  refreshment  counter. 


^ The  authorities  for  this  description  of  the  English  Coffee  House 
Movement  are  the  volume  of  Dr.  Bode  of  Berlin  on  Wirtshaus  reform ; 
a paper  by  William  Wilkinson,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  Irish  Temperance 
League,  originally  read  at  the  World’s  Temperance  Congress  in  London 
in  1000,  reprinted  in  the  Irish  Temperance  League  Journal  for  July  2, 
1900 ; papers  furnished  by  William  Peskett,  manager  of  the  Liverpool 
British  Workingmen’s  Public  House  Company,  Limited,  and  manu- 
scripts sent  by  H.  A.  Short  of  the  Birmingham  Coffee  House  Company. 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES. 


245 


Next  in  chronological  order  comes  the  establishment 
of  the  Great  Western  Cooking  Depot,  founded  by 
Thomas  Corbett  in  1860.  His  object  was  to  supply 
working  people  with  good  meals  at  from  twopence  to 
four  and  one  half  pence. 

Stimulated  by  Mr.  Corbett’s  success,  many  similar 
institutions  were  promoted  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  These  establishments  were  the  real  pioneers 
of  the  present  temperance  refreshment  houses  which 
are  so  numerous  throughout  the  country.  It  was  in 
1869  that  Mrs.  Hind  Smith  started  the  British  Work- 
men’s Public  House  at  Leeds.  Here  the  idea  of  lec- 
tures, “Free  and  Easys,”  and  debates  were  made  a 
part  of  the  public  house  scheme.  This  experiment  was 
imitated  so  that  in  1873  there  were  in  addition  to  eight 
in  Leeds,  eleven  at  Cardiff,  six  at  Bristol,  and  many  in 
other  cities. 

The  coffee  palace  movement  was  very  much  on  the 
same  lines,  but  on  a larger  scale,  one  of  the  most  exten- 
sive being  the  Edinburgh  Castle,  in  the  East  End  of 
London,  in  connection  with  Dr.  Barnardo’s  work. 
Edinburgh  Castle  had  long  been  famous  as  a gin 
palace  when  Dr.  Barnardo  bought  it  and  converted  it 
into  a coffee  palace  and  a people’s  mission  church. 
On  February  14,  1873,  it  was  opened  by  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury. Shortly  afterward  Dublin  Castle  was  purchased 
and  similarly  transformed. 

Simultaneously  with  these  movements  Mr.  Simon 
Short  of  Bristol  successfully  agitated  for  the  establish- 
ing of  cocoa-rooms.  In  his  youth.  Short  was  a poor 
workman  who  had  inherited  from  his  father  a craving 
for  drink.  He  was  converted  and  became  a sailor 


246 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


missionary.  The  idea  occurred  to  him  to  set  up  a good 
restaurant  for  the  sailors  and  laborers  of  Bristol.  He 
was  supported  by  some  good  Quakers,  and  the  result 
was  a small  coffee-house  established  in  1870,  where 
coffee  and  cocoa  could  be  had  for  fourj^ence  a pint, 
besides  good  luncheons  at  cheap  prices.  Other  similar 
houses  were  planted,  always  where  a large  company  of 
laborers  were  engaged.  “ Simon  Short  may  well  be 
called  the  father  of  the  cocoa-house  and  coffee-house 
movement.” 

Another  one  of  the  early  pioneers  who  should  be 
mentioned  is  Mr.  John  Pearce,  who  started  what  has 
been  known  as  the  Gutter  Hotel,  which  has  grown  into 
the  wonderful  establishments  of  Pearce  & Plenty  and 
the  British  Tea  Table  Company,  in  which  upwards  of 
one  hundred  thousand  meals  are  served  every  day. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  name  of  Dwight  L.  Moody 
is  associated  with  the  English  coffee-house  movement. 
In  1875,  while  holding  services  at  Liverpool,  he  be- 
came impressed  with  the  needs  of  the  dock  laborers. 
A Liverpool  clergyman.  Rev.  Charles  Garrett,  took  up 
Mr.  Moody’s  suggestion  that  temperance  houses  be 
furnished  as  a corrective  to  the  saloon.  The  result 
was  the  establishment  of  the  Livei’pool  British  Woi’k- 
men’s  Public  House  Company,  Limited.  Mr.  Garrett 
went  to  Bristol  to  investigate  Simon  Short’s  coffee- 
houses, and  when  he  returned  brought  Mr.  Short 
with  him.  As  a result,  the  company  prospered  and 
to-day  has  seventy-two  establishments,  which  during 
the  year  1896  accommodated  no  less  than  175,320 
guests. 

In  1874  the  Irish  Temperance  League  opened  their 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES. 


247 


first  coffee-stand  on  the  streets  of  Belfast,  and  Dublin 
and  Londonderry  imitated  their  efforts  with  marked 
success.  In  Ireland  at  the  present  time  the  work  is 
performed  not  by  private  companies,  but  by  Temper- 
ance Leagues. 

In  London  the  coffee-house  movement  was  not  taken 
up  so  readily  as  in  the  provincial  towns.  The  work, 
when  it  was  begun  in  London,  was  of  a somewhat 
different  character.  Prior  to  1874  cheap  restaurants 
were  practically  unknown.  Indeed,  for  some  years 
after  that  time  there  was  no  place  within  a short  dis- 
tance of  the  House  of  Commons  where  a cup  of  tea 
could  be  had  unless  on  licensed  premises,  and  then 
only  by  paying  one  shilling  for  tea  and  bread  and 
butter.  To-day  no  less  than  fifteen  hundred  persons 
are  proprietors  of  people’s  restaurants,  and  thirty-one 
persons  are  owners  of  one  or  more  temperance  hotels. 
The  most  important  of  the  restaurant  companies  are 
The  Aerated  Bread  Company,  Lockhart’s  Cocoa  Rooms, 
Pearce  & Plenty’s  Temperance  Hotels,  Pearce’s  Din- 
ing Rooms,  British  Tea  Table  Co.,  The  Temperance 
Catering  Co.,  Limited,  The  Golden  Grain  Co.,  The  Ex- 
press Dairy,  The  Mecca,  The  Ossington  Coffee  Tavern 
Co.,  Slater’s  Restaurants,  J.  Lyons  & Co.,  Johnston’s 
Cocoa  Rooms.  All  of  these  are  purely  business  enter- 
prises much  like  Dennett’s  and  others  in  America, 
although  upon  a much  larger  scale.  They  all  pay 
profits  anywhere  from  eight  to  fifteen  per  cent. 

The  temperance  hotels  of  London  are  another  impor- 
tant feature  of  the  movement.  The  Rowton  Houses  are 
the  best  known  of  these,  but  in  addition  there  are  at 
present  twenty  other  temperance  hotels,  some  of  them 


248 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


hardly  less  palatial.  In  these  hotels  cheap  meals, 
clean  beds,  and  good  reading-rooms  are  pro\’ided,  much 
after  the  pattern  of  the  Mills  Hotels  in  New  York.  In 
many  of  the  provincial  cities  similar  institutions  are 
conducted,  some  of  them  under  the  direction  of  the 
Coffee-House  Company,  as  in  Birmingham,  Bradford, 
Liverpool,  and  Hull.  One  of  the  most  famous  of  these 
is  the  Cobden  Hotel  of  Birmingham,  with  its  under- 
ground refreshment  room  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
guest  rooms. 

There  are  then,  in  general,  these  three  kinds  of  tem- 
perance refreshment  houses : coffee-houses  wdthout  the 
drink,  restaurants  without  the  drink,  and  inns  without 
the  drink.  Some  are  a combination  of  aU  of  these, 
some  of  two  ; the  trade  is  known  as  temperance  cater- 
ing. There  is  a national  organization  which  publishes 
a paper  called  “ The  Temperance  Caterer.” 

We  may  form  some  idea  of  the  extent  of  this  indus- 
try from  the  number  of  these  temperance  houses  of  one 
grade  or  another,  and  from  the  amount  of  capital 
invested.  Liverpool,  with  its  607,000  inhabitants,  has 
no  less  than  sixty-five  houses  of  all  grades,  of  which 
nine  are  large  cafes  and  ten  provide  lodgings.  They 
have  their  own  bakery  and  aerated  water  manufactory. 
The  capital  is  £55,000,  £40,000  of  which  is  in  £1 
shares.  The  patronage  amounts  to  30,000  daily,  and 
the  company  gives  employment  to  nearly  500  persons. 
The  declared  dividend  has  seldom  been  less  than  ten 
per  cent.  In  Manchester,  380,000  inhabitants,  the 
work  is  carried  on  by  Mr.  Frank  Short.  Flere  there 
are  fifteen  establishments,  one  of  them  a new  and  large 
hotel.  Besides  the  Tavern  Company,  there  is  a Ware- 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES. 


249 


housemen  and  Clerks’  Cafe,  and  other  smaller  compa- 
nies. In  Bradford,  235,000  inhabitants,  the  Coffee 
Tavern  Company,  with  Mr.  Joseph  Bentley  at  its  head, 
conducts  thirty-four  houses,  and  possesses  in  addition  a 
mineral  water  factory,  a bakery,  a butcher-shop,  and  a 
laundry.  The  company  employs  220  persons.  Here 
the  capital  is  about  ^032,000,  of  which  £20,000  are  in 
shares.  The  dividend  in  the  last  few  years  has  been 
at  five  per  cent.  The  Bradford  Company,  in  addition 
to  the  regular  trade  of  the  coffee-houses,  caters  for 
family  g’atherings  and  public  occasions,  often  at  a dis- 
tance from  Bradford.  In  Birmingham,  there  is  a large 
company  which  controls  eighteen  restaurants,  two 
hotels,  a mineral  water  factory,  and  a bakery.  The 
company  pays  twelve  and  a half  per  cent.  From  the 
following  list  some  idea  of  the  trade  in  other  English 
cities  may  be  obtained.^ 

Leicester,  12  houses,  4 per  cent  (6  per  cent  1897)  ; 
Lincoln,  1 house,  7^  per  cent ; HuU,  19  houses,  10 
per  cent ; Great  Grimsby,  5 houses  ; Northampton,  3 
houses;  Wellingborough,  5 houses;  Shrewsbury,  4 
houses;  Wolverhampton,  13  houses;  Southampton,  4 
houses  ; Ashton-under-Lyne,  4 houses  ; Bury,  4 houses, 
15  per  cent ; Rochdale,  7 houses ; Stalybridge,  5 
houses ; Derby,  5 houses,  6 per  cent ; Sunderland,  10 
houses ; York,  3 houses,  12^  per  cent ; Halifax,  8 
houses,  10  per  cent. 

It  would  be  a mistake  to  imagine  that  aU  of  these 
houses  are  large  and  well  appointed.  The  criticisms 
which  are  constantly  being  made  in  the  English  papers 
almost  invariably  speak  of  the  dinginess  of  many  of  the 
1 W.  Bode,  Wirtshausreform,  p.  23. 


250 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


temperance  houses.  All  that  their  promoters  claim  is 
that,  “ taking  them  house  for  house,  temperance  estab- 
lishments will  compare  most  favorably  for  cleauliness, 
comfort,  good  order  and  moderate  charges  with  licensed 
houses  situated  in  similar  localities.” 

The  interior  furnishings  are  usually  in  light-colored 
woods ; often  colored  glass  is  used,  and  flowers  are  not 
an  unusual  ornament.  A small  cafe  in  Bradford  spent 
<£600  in  interior  furnishings.  The  comfort  of  the  guest 
is  looked  after.  A smoking-room  is  always  provided, 
and  often  a billiard-room  as  well  if  space  will  permit. 
The  York  Company  takes  in  yearly  £90  from  its  billiard 
tables  alone.  The  Liverpool  Company  does  not  permit 
billiards  in  any  of  its  houses  and  has  not  felt  the  need  of 
this  attraction.  Other  amusements  like  draughts,  domi- 
noes, and  chess  are  found,  and  are  very  popular.  Cards 
are  generally  excluded.  The  reading-room  is  a great 
feature  in  nearly  all  of  the  houses.  The  London  and 
local  dailies  and  often  popular  magazines  are  to  be 
found.  The  Liverpool  Company  expends  over  £400, 
and  the  Bradford  Company  £180  yearly  for  papers. 
Sometimes  coffee  concerts  are  given,  admittance  to 
which,  with  coffee  or  tea,  is  two,  four,  or  six  pence,  ac- 
cording to  seats.  Better  still,  these  coffee-houses  do 
the  work  which  Amei’ican  saloons  often  perform  at  pre- 
sent of  offering  accommodation  to  the  fraternal  and 
secret  societies,  many  of  which  meet  each  week  in  the 
different  hi-anches  of  the  coffee-house  companies.  The 
Liverpool  Company  has  been  particularly  successful  in 
this  respect. 

A feature  of  nearly  all  the  refreshment  houses,  with- 
out respect  to  grade,  is  the  service.  The  food  or  drink 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES. 


251 


is  almost  always  quickly  and  neatly  served.  W aitresses 
are  employed,  and  the  girls  receive  sums  varying  from 
13  shillings  a week  to  £1.  No  tips  are  allowed. 
Changes  are  frequent,  but  there  is  no  difficulty  in  fill- 
ing the  places.  The  Sunday  closing  rule  of  the  temper- 
ance houses  has  sometimes  been  criticised,  hut  it  is  the 
belief  of  the  leaders  of  the  movement  that  Sunday 
should  be  a family  day,  and  they  do  not  care  to  compete 
with  the  public  houses  in  this  respect.  During  the  week 
days,  every  effort  is  made  to  meet  the  convenience  of  the 
workingmen,  and  some  of  the  houses  are  open  continu- 
ously from  five  in  the  morning  until  eleven  at  night. 

Although  the  refreshment  houses  are  known  as  coffee- 
houses, tea  is  the  common  beverage  and  is  consumed  in 
large  quantities.  Coffee  comes  next,  and  then  cocoa, 
the  consumption  of  which  seems  to  be  on  the  increase. 
Soft  drinks,  such  as  lemonade,  and  ginger  ale,  have  a 
large  sale  in  some  places,  but  in  others  are  not  much 
in  demand.  In  Liverpool,  for  example,  there  is  little 
call  for  them,  but  in  Bradford  and  Birmingham  the 
trade  is  so  large  that  the  companies  operate  their  own 
mineral  water  manufactory.  In  addition  much  atten- 
tion has  been  given  to  the  preparation  of  non-intoxicat- 
ing beverages  containing  a small  percentage  of  alcohol. 
Some  of  these  so-called  temperance  drinks  are  undoubt- 
edly intoxicating,  the  difficulty  being  to  keep  the  per 
cent  of  alcohol  below  the  required  percentage.  The 
Brewers’  Journal  in  1895  asserted  that  the  results  of 
forty  tests  had  shown  that  on  an  average  these  drinks 
contained  no  less  than  four  and  eight  tenths  per  cent 
of  alcohol,  and  “ Science  Siftings  ” declared  that  total 
abstinence  patrons  of  so-called  non-alcoholic  drinks 


252 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


eventually  consume  as  much  alcohol  as  moderate  drink- 
ers. “The  Temperance  Caterer,”  15th of  March,  1895, 
declared  against  many  of  these  drinks,  asserting  that 
there  were  enough  beverages  that  contain  only  one  to 
two  per  cent  of  alcohol  to  leave  no  excuse  for  the  sale 
of  others  by  temperance  houses.  Kop’s  Ale  and  Kop’s 
Stout  are  favorite  drinks  for  abstainers.  Other  English 
beers  are  so  strong  that  these  are  doubtless  temperance 
drinks,  although  they  are  hardly  more  so  than  a soft 
fresh-brewed  beer.  However  it  is  not  true  that  these 
drinks  play  a large  part  in  the  English  temperance 
house  movement.  The  success  of  the  houses  seems  to 
be  wholly  independent  of  them.  They  are  useful 
chiefly  for  confirmed  drinkers,  who  crave  something 
stronger  than  tea  or  lemonade.  Mr.  Bentley  at  Brad- 
ford is  constantly  experimenting  in  new  drinks  which 
are  finding  a large  sale. 

At  first  not  so  much  attention  was  given  to  the  pro- 
vision of  food  as  of  drink,  but  of  late  this  feature  of 
the  coffee-houses  has  been  very  prominent,  and  now  in 
nearly  all  of  them  clean  and  suitable  food  can  be  ob- 
tained at  very  low  prices.  The  amount  of  the  patron- 
age of  some  of  the  companies  may  be  estimated  from 
the  fact  that  they  operate  their  own  bakeries,  the  Liver- 
pool Company  employing  fifty  hands  day  and  night. 
The  consumption  of  meat  is  always  large.  Provision 
is  made  for  laborers  who  choose  to  bring  their  own 
luncheons.  They  can  go  to  the  coffee-houses,  spend  a 
halfpenny  on  a cup  of  tea,  coffee,  or  cocoa,  and  eat  their 
dinners  in  comfort.  Of  course  there  is  a great  variety 
in  the  matter  of  the  provision  of  food.  Lockliart’s,  for 
example,  in  London,  represents  the  class  of  houses 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES. 


253 


where  very  cheap  and  simple  tariffs  prevail,  a halfpenny 
mug  of  hot  cocoa,  tea,  or  coffee  being  the  most  popu- 
lar item.  Other  places,  like  the  A.  B.  C.  of  London 
and  the  B.  T.  T.  (British  Tea  Table),  do  a superior 
kind  of  catering.  In  general,  it  may  he  said  that  the 
provision  of  cheap  cooked  dinners  is  a growing  part  of 
the  work. 

An  idea  of  the  prices  charged  for  both  drink  and 
food  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  tables : ^ — 

I.  DRINK. 

Class  A.  Wobkingmen’s  Refreshment  Hotjses. 

Tea,  Id.  to  2d. 

Coffee  and  cocoa,  the  same. 

Milk,  Id. 

Lemonade  in  bottles.  Id. 

Ginger  ale,  Id. 

Ginger  beer.  Id. 

Class  B.  For  Clerks,  etc. 

Tea,  Ijd.,  3d.,  or  6d.,  according  to  amount. 

Coffee,  l^d.  to  6d. 

Chocolate,  2|d. 

Glass  of  milk.  Id. 

Soda  water,  2d. 

Bouillon,  2d.  to  4d. 

Class  C.  Highest  Grade  Houses  and  Hotels. 

Tea,  2d.  to  3d. 

Coffee  and  chocolate,  the  same. 

Milk,  l|d. 

Eggs  and  milk,  3|d. 

^ W.  Bode,  Wirtsliausreform,  p.  26. 


254 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


Slater’s  in  London  offers  in  addition: 
Russian  tea,  2d. 

Cadbury’s  cocoa,  2d. 

Coffee,  3d. 

Lime  juice  and  soda  water,  2d.  to  3d. 
Anti-Burton  Bitter  Ale  or  Stout,  2d. 

Soda  water,  2d. 


11.  FOOD. 

Class  A.  Workingmen’s  Refreshment  Houses. 
Bread  and  butter.  Id. 

Cakes,  pies,  or  puddings.  Id. 

Warm  beef,  4d.,  5d.,  and  6d. 

Beefsteak  pudding,  4d. 

Beefsteak,  5d. 

Ham,  2d.,  3d.,  and  4d. 

Corned  beef,  2d. 

Sausage,  2d. 

Pickles,  ^d. 

Vegetables,  Id. 

The  amount  of  meat  is  always  large ; the  Bradford  Com- 
pany boasts  of  its  6d.  dinner : Soup,  Id. ; herring,  1^. ; 
beef  and  potatoes,  2d. ; pudding.  Id. ; bread  and  butter,  J^d. 

Class  B.  For  Clerks,  etc. 

Bread  and  butter,  2d. 

Poached  eggs,  5d. 

Cold  beef,  3d. 

Ham,  3d. 

Tongue,  4d. 

Chicken,  3d.  to  7d. 

Ham  sandwiches,  4d.  to  7d. 

Mock  turtle  or  ox-tail  soup,  2d.  to  7d. 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES. 


255 


Warm  steak  pies,  2d. 

Fish,  6d. 

Cheese,  Id. 

Custards,  Id.  to  2d. 

Class  C.  Highest  Grade  Houses  and  Hotels. 

Beef,  6d. 

Ham  or  tongue,  4d. 

Steak  pies,  3d.  to  4d. 

Sausages,  3d. 

Bread  and  butter,  2d. 

Sandwiches,  3d.  to  6d. 

Eggs,  2d.,  etc. 

Some  of  the  causes  of  the  success  of  this  English 
experiment  are  the  following : — 

1.  The  great  need  of  some  substitute  for  the  public 
house.  We  have  seen  how  prior  to  1874  the  field  was 
unrecognized,  the  cheap  restaurant  being  practically 
unknown. 

2.  The  sound  financial  footing  upon  which  the  experi- 
ment was  based  from  the  first.  “ These  establishments 
have  been  owned  and  worked  by  joint  stock  companies 
with  liability,  the  shares,  usually  of  the  value  of  one 
pound,  being  bought  and  sold  like  any  other  stock. 
These  shares  have  always  been  in  demand,  explained 
by  the  fact  that  dividends  have  been  steadily  paid  for 
years  past.  The  shares  of  nearly  all  the  concerns  are 
sought  after  by  the  investing  public  with  confidence.”  ^ 

3.  The  absence  of  any  religious  and  benevolent 
aspect  of  the  enterprise.  The  association  is  not  con- 
nected with  any  temperance  party,  the  abstainer  being 
merged  in  the  general  public. 

1 Quotation  from  Mr.  H.  A.  Short’s  letter. 


256 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


4.  Effective  business  management,  the  economic  pur- 
chase and  preparation  of  food  and  drink.  This  is  seen 
in  the  control  of  the  houses,  and  in  the  effort  to  meet 
at  all  points  the  demand  of  the  public.  Full  freedom 
is  exercised  by  the  houses  in  any  one  locality,  the  only 
universal  rule  being  the  exclusion  of  intoxicants. 

5.  The  English  fondness  for  tea  and  coffee  and 
meats,  which  makes  the  problem  of  providing  temper- 
ance refreshments  simpler  than  it  might  be  elsewhere. 

The  results  of  the  English  experiment  have  been 
most  beneficent.  Intemperance  still  prevails  to  a fright- 
ful extent  in  English  cities,  but  it  can  safely  be  claimed 
that  conditions  are  not  so  bad  as  they  otherwise  would 
be,  that  the  people  are  more  sober  and  thrifty.  The 
total  abstinence  movement  in  England  is  educating  a 
larger  and  larger  number  of  young  people  to  refrain 
altogether  from  the  use  of  intoxicants.  The  temper- 
ance refreshment  houses  are  to  play  in  the  future  an 
even  more  important  part  in  the  social  life  of  England 
than  they  do  at  present,  and  to-day  the  reproach  has 
been  removed  from  many  of  the  most  important  Eng- 
lish cities  that  only  the  drink-shops  are  open  for  the 
people’s  refreshment. 

To  the  questioner  who  asks  why  may  not  this  bene- 
ficent movement  be  duplicated  in  America,  several 
considerations  present  themselves.  For  one  thing, 
the  cheap  restaurants  are  already  performing  in  part 
the  work  of  the  English  coffee-houses.  In  England,  the 
cheap  restaurant  and  the  temperance  house  movement 
have  been  combined  from  the  beginning.  In  America, 
the  former  began  an  independent  existence,  and  has 
been  accomplishing  much  good  without  being  nominally 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES. 


257 


a temperance  agency.  A coffee-house  in  America 
to-day  competes  not  only  with  the  saloon,  but  with 
these  restaurants.  Again,  the  English  fondness  for 
tea  and  coffee  makes  possible  a large  consumption  and 
considerable  profit.  The  free  lunch  competition  is  not 
felt  in  England,  and  it  is  precisely  the  free  lunch  which 
so  complicates  the  problem  in  America.  As  far  as  the 
temperance  hotels  are  concerned,  it  has  already  been 
demonstrated  that  these  American  houses  can  be  as 
successful  as  their  English  models,  and  the  near  future 
will  probably  see  all  American  cities  provided  with 
lodgings  after  the  Mills  Hotel  pattern.  Finally,  it  is 
yet  to  be  proved  that  an  establishment  after  the  best 
of  the  English  types  cannot  be  conducted  so  as  to  yield 
a profit. 

The  attempt  was  made  a year  or  two  ago  lt>y  the 
Church  Temperance  Society  of  New  York,  which  estab- 
lished its  Squirrel  Inn  on  the  Bowery.  Unfortunately, 
the  Tammany  building  inspector  refused  to  permit  the 
society  to  have  lodgings  in  the  building,  and  without 
these  the  inn  has  not  been  able  to  meet  expenses.  If 
the  experiment  could  be  made  under  right  conditions, 
it  is  probable  that  financially  it  would  be  successful. 

Attention  has  been  called  to  a conclusion  to  which 
many  interested  in  temperance  reform  have  slowly  been 
tending,  that  the  hope  of  prohibition  must  be  dismissed, 
and  the  effort  be  made  to  sell  liquor  under  right  condi- 
tions. The  methods  of  state  and  governmental  control 
have  already  been  described.  But  in  England  prac- 
tically the  same  plan  has  been  followed  by  individuals 
who,  without  waiting  for  further  legislation,  have  applied 


258 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


for  licenses,  and  liave  retailed  liquors  in  suet  a way  as 
to  avoid  excesses  while  satisfying  the  demand  for  intoxi- 
cants. A description  of  this  interesting  experiment  is 
contributed  by  Professor  Prancis  G.  Peabody : — 
Certain  large  industrial  undertakings  in  England, 
in  the  interest  of  their  own  employees,  have  taken  into 
their  hands  the  control  of  the  drink  traffic,  and  have 
devoted  themselves  to  checking  excess  and  encouraging 
other  forms  of  recreation.  One  of  the  most  notable 
instances  of  such  industrial  monopoly  is  the  village 
of  Elan,  in  Wales.  This  is  a temporary  settlement 
constructed  for  the  “ navvies  ” employed  in  building 
the  aqueduct  of  Birmingham.  More  than  a thousand 
workmen  are  housed  at  this  isolated  spot,  which  is 
reached  by  a bridge  across  a stream,  where  an  official 
watches  for  smuggled  liquor.  The  company  maintains 
both  a place  of  sale  and  a place  of  refreshment.  In 
the  place  of  sale  beer  may  be  bought,  but  may  not  be 
drunk.  Sales  are  forbidden  to  minors  or  to  non-resi- 
dents, and  the  amount  which  may  be  bought  by  one 
purchaser  is  limited.  In  the  place  of  refreshment  the 
hours  of  opening  are  from  noon  to  two,  and  from  half 
past  five  till  nine  o’clock  (Saturdays  from  one  to  nine 
o’clock),  with  no  Sunday  opening.  No  women  and  no 
boys  under  eighteen  years  are  admitted.  The  regida- 
tions  prohibit  cards  and  games  of  chance,  and  demand 
good  order.  The  manager  gets  no  personal  profit  from 
increasing  sales,  but  loses  his  position  if  the  discipline 
of  the  canteen  is  relaxed.  Profits  of  the  business  are 
applied  by  the  company  to  maintain  a reading-room, 
a library,  a gymnasium,  a hall  for  entertainment,  a 
school,  and  a hospital. 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES. 


259 


“ Individually,”  wrote  the  secretary  of  the  Birming- 
ham Water  Department  in  1895,  “I  am  a total 
abstainer,  but  I am  perfectly  certain  that  we  are  serv- 
ing the  interests  of  temperance  far  better  in  providing 
wholesome  liquor  under  proper  regulations  than  we 
should  be  did  we  attempt  to  prohibit  the  traffic  alto- 
gether, leaving  it  to  be  conducted  in  the  usual  way  by 
persons  interested  in  encouraging  the  sale,  or  driving 
the  men  to  illicit  practices  to  obtain  supplies.”  ^ 

A more  considerable  attempt  to  apply  the  Scandi- 
navian principle  without  legislative  authority  was  begun 
in  1897  by  the  Bishop  of  Chester  and  others.  This 
group  of  influential  persons,  having  failed  to  obtain 
legislation  permitting  the  formation  of  a company 
system,  proceeded  to  organize  the  “ People’s  Refresh- 
ment House  Association.”  The  aim  of  this  associa- 
tion is  to  permit  public  house  reform  independently 
of  further  legislation,  by  giving  facilities  for  the  wider 
adoption  of  the  system  of  management  without  private 
profits.  With  this  object  it  seeks  to  lease  existing 
public  houses,  to  acquire  new  licenses  at  places  where 
the  growth  of  the  population  obliges  the  licensing 
magistrates  to  create  new  ones,  and  to  establish  can- 
teens and  refreshment  bars  where  required  at  large 
public  works,  at  collieries,  and  elsewhere.  In  each 
house  a carefully  chosen  manager  is  placed.  The 
salient  features  of  the  system  introduced  into  the  public 
houses  managed  by  the  association  are  as  follows : — 
(a)  In  order  to  remove  all  temptation  to  the  manager 


^ The  Canteen  at  Elan  Village,  published  for  the  People’s  Refresh- 
ment House  Association,  1899.  W.  Bode,  Wirtshausreform,  p.  52  £E., 
with  illustrations. 


260 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


to  push  the  sale  of  intoxicants,  he  is  paid  a fixed  salary, 
and  is  allowed  no  profit  whatever  on  the  sale  of  alco- 
holic drinks. 

(5)  On  the  other  hand,  to  make  it  to  his  interest  to 
sell  non-intoxicants,  in  preference  to  beer  and  spirits, 
he  is  allowed  a profit  on  aU  trade  in  food  and  non-alco- 
holics. 

(c)  To  enable  the  customer  to  get  tea,  coffee,  tem- 
perance drinks  or  light  refreshments  just  as  easily  as 
beer  or  spirits,  these  are  made  readily  accessible  at  the 
bars,  and  are  served  promptly.  In  this  way  the  beer 
and  spirit  trade  is  deposed  from  the  objectionable  pro- 
minence into  which,  from  motives  of  profit,  it  is  pushed 
in  the  ordinary  public  house,  the  aim  of  the  associ- 
ation being  to  maintain  the  house  in  a general  sense 
as  a public  house,  but  to  conduct  the  trade  on  the  lines 
of  a respectable  house  of  refreshment  at  popular  prices, 
instead  of  those  of  a mere  drinking  bar. 

(c?)  To  guard  against  the  evils  of  bad  liquor  great 
care  is  taken  that  everything  supplied  is  of  the  best 
quality. 

The  capital  which  is  from  time  to  time  wanted  to 
carry  on  the  society’s  increasing  business,  is  offered 
for  subscription  to  the  public  in  the  form  of  shares 
entitled  to  a dividend  out  of  profits  at  a rate  not  ex- 
ceeding five  per  cent  per  annum,  after  payment  of 
which,  and  making  provision  for  a reserve  fund,  the 
surplus  profit  is  devoted  to  objects  of  public  utility, 
local  or  general,  as  the  president  and  vice-presidents 
in  considtation  with  the  council  may  determine. 

This  scheme  of  moderate  reform,  therefore,  accepts 
the  situation  which  exists  in  many  parts  of  Great 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES.  261 

Britain,  and  instead  of  protesting  against  the  public 
house  attempts  to  reduce  its  evils.  Many  leaders  of 
public  opinion  participate  in  the  undertaking.  The 
vice-presidents  of  the  association  for  1899  include  the 
Earl  of  Stamford,  the  Bishop  of  Rochester,  Lord 
Chelmsford,  and  Cardinal  Vaughan,  and  among  its 
adherents  are  seven  other  bishops,  the  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford, Earl  Grey,  Lord  Tennyson,  and  many  others. 
The  operations  of  this  association  began  in  1897,  with 
a single  inn  in  the  village  of  Sparkford  in  Somerset. 
In  1899  seven,  and  in  June,  1900,  twelve  public  houses 
were  under  its  control.  The  net  profit  of  business  in 


1899  was  <£281,  of  which  there  were 

Placed  in  reserve  fund £35.29 

Dividend  on  stock  at  5 per  cent 76 

Distributed  for  objects  of  public  relief  . . . 112 

Carried  on 68 


£281.29 


The  administration  of  these  resorts  is  regulated  by 
instructions  to  managers  of  which  the  following  are 
illustrations : — 

“ The  manager  placed  in  charge  of  a public  house 
belonging  to  the  association  must  bear  in  mind  that 
he  has  been  appointed  by  the  council  to  conduct  the 
management  on  certain  fixed  principles.  These  pi'inci- 
ples  are : — 

“ 1.  That  the  general  arrangement  and  management 
of  the  house  shall  be  on  the  lines  of  a house  of  refresh- 
ment, instead  of  a mere  drinking  bar. 

“ 2.  That  food  and  a variety  of  non-intoxicants  shall 
be  as  easily  accessible  to  customers  as  beer  and  spirits. 


262 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


“ 3.  That  the  licensing  laws  enacted  by  Parliament 
for  the  regulation  of  public  houses  and  the  promotion 
of  temperance  shall  be  most  strictly  carried  out  in 
every  particular. 

“ 4.  That  a holder  of  a license  is  in  a sense  a servant 
of  the  public,  and  that  he  must  study  the  comfort, 
well-being,  and  health  of  his  customers ; that  his  house 
must  therefore  be  scrupulously  clean,  and  that  the 
rooms  most  used  by  the  public  must  be  comforta- 
bly arranged,  well  warmed  in  winter,  and  well  venti- 
lated. 

“ 5.  Special  attention  is  to  be  given  to  the  making  of 
tea,  coffee,  and  cocoa,  so  as  to  make  them  as  attractive 
and  palatable  as  possible.  Tea  must  always  be  freshly 
made  for  every  customer. 

“ 6.  Those  light  refreshments  in  the  way  of  food 
best  suited  to  the  tastes  of  the  customers  frequenting 
the  house,  such,  perhaps,  as  biscuits,  cakes,  hard-boiled 
eggs,  meat  sandwiches,  bread  and  cheese  and  sausages, 
should  be  conspicuous  in  the  bar,  and  arranged  appe- 
tizingly  to  attract  custom.” 

The  sale  of  food  and  non-intoxicating  beverages  is  a 
source  of  profit  to  the  manager,  and  on  sales  of  aerated 
water  he  receives  one  quarter  of  the  profit.  Each  man- 
ager is  provided  with  pamphlets  of  “ hints  for  encour- 
aging the  sale  of  non-intoxicants  and  food,”  some  of 
which  are  as  follows  : — 

“ Of  course  you  must  keep  the  usual  stock  of  aerated 
waters,  tea,  coffee,  cocoa,  cheese,  biscuits,  butter,  jam, 
and  so  on,  like  any  common  jDublic  house ; but  as  we 
want  to  encourage  the  consumption  of  non-intoxicants 
and  food  more  than  is  done  usually  in  public  houses, 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES. 


263 


look  through  the  following  list,  and  make  a selection 
of  those  things  most  likely  to  be  appreciated  by  your 
customers,  and  get  in  a stock,  only  a small  stock  to 
start  with,  until  you  find  how  they  sell. 

NON-INTO  NIC  ANTS. 

Ginger  Ale. 

Hop  Ale  or  Bitter. 

Kop’s  Ale. 

Lime  Juice  (Crosse  & Blackwell’s  is  best). 

Lemon  Squash  (Crosse  & Blackwell’s). 

Still  Lemonade. 

Bovril  or  Fluid  Beef. 

Milk,  plain. 

Soda  and  milk. 

Syrups  (with  hot  water  they  make  a good  winter  drink). 

LIGHT  REFRESHMENTS. 

Bacon  or  ham. 

Eggs,  plain  boiled. 

Hard-boiled  eggs  (served  cold  in  the  shell  on  a plate  with 
salt) . 

Poached  eggs  on  toast  (anchovy  or  bloater  paste  on  the 
toast  is  very  good). 

Fried  eggs,  plain  or  with  ham  or  bacon. 

Fried  or  poached  eggs  on  tomatoes  (cut  the  tomatoes  in 
halves  and  fry.  Canned  tomatoes  do  very  well). 

Sandwiches,  meat  or  ham,  or  with  potted  meat,  or  eggs 
liard-boiled  and  cut  in  slices.  , 

Potted  meats  (served  with  bread). 

Corned  beef  (makes  good  sandwiches). 

Tongue. 

Sausages  (hot  or  cold). 

Sausage  rolls. 


264 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


Pork  pies. 

Bloater  or  herring,  fried. 

Soused  mackerel  (cooked  in  vinegar). 

Salmon,  canned,  served  with  vinegar. 

Sardines. 

German  sausage. 

Cake  to  sell  by  the  slice. 

Buns  or  cakes. 

Biscuits  in  variety. 

Salad,  lettuce  or  radish. 

Soups  (can  now  be  bought  in  packets  ; easily  made). 

“ If  you  have  a suitable  shelf  or  counter  make  as 
good  a show  as  you  can  of  your  non-intoxicants  and 
food  ; it  will  pay  you  to  do  so.  Keep  a well-arranged 
assortment  of  show  cards  about,  and  change  them  from 
time  to  time  and  according  to  season.” 

Important  as  has  been  the  support  of  this  scheme  in 
England,  it  has  been,  of  course,  a subject  of  severe  and 
sometimes  of  bitter  criticism.  In  particular  should  be 
mentioned  the  comments  of  a recent  volume  of  most 
painstaking  and  intelligent  inquiry  which,  while  warmly 
commending  the  general  intention  of  the  People’s  Re- 
freshment House  Association,  takes  issue  ■with  its 
method  in  one  detail.^  “ With  the  main  principle,” 
it  remarks,  “ underlying  the  Bishop  of  Chester’s  pro- 
posal, namely,  the  elimination  of  private  profit,  there 
can  be  nothing  but  cordial  agreement ; . . . but  the 
practical  proposal  for  associating  recreation  with  the 
sale  of  intoxicants  is  . . . calculated  to  hinder  rather 
than  to  facilitate  the  object  it  seems  to  maintain.”  The 

1 Rowntree  and  Sherwell,  The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Be- 
form,  1899,  p.  389  ff. 


ENGLISH  TEMPERANCE  HOUSES. 


265 


authors  o£  this  important  book  accept,  therefore,  as  the 
solution  of  the  drink  jjroblem  the  municipal  or  corpo- 
rate monopoly  of  the  traffic  together  with  the  detach- 
ment of  the  sale  of  liquor  — as  in  Bergen  — from  all 
recreative  elements,  and  the  application  of  profits,  as 
in  Norway,  to  forms  of  popular  amusement  and  instruc- 
tion which  tend  to  counteract  the  drink  habit.  It  is 
very  interesting  to  observe  how  nearly  this  last  proposal 
of  competent  inquirers  coincides  with  the  Bishop  of 
Chester’s  scheme.  Indeed,  it  can  hardly  be  said  that 
there  is  any  radical  hostility  between  the  two  proposals. 
Either  plan  has  obvious  difficulties.  On  the  one  hand, 
there  is  the  social  risk  of  restoring  the  drink  traffic  to 
respectability  and  of  failing  to  check  the  flow  of  popu- 
lation toward  the  saloon  ; on  the  other  hand,  there  is 
the  practical  risk  which  comes  of  vesting  an  extremely 
valuable  monopoly  in  the  hands  of  town  councils  or  char- 
tered companies.  The  Bishop  of  Chester’s  scheme  is 
highly  individualized,  and  is  in  the  way  of  being  devel- 
oped so  as  to  avoid  the  perils  of  any  wholesale  or  pre- 
cipitate movement.  The  public  house  under  this 
system  should  not  be  reestablished  as  the  social  club  of 
the  community,  but  should  be  utilized  to  establish  social 
resorts  of  a more  elevating  character  within  the  commu- 
nity. The  canteen  at  Elan  illustrates  this  use  of  monop- 
oly. The  Bishop  of  Chester’s  scheme  begins  in  a small 
way,  and  does  not  call  for  any  legislative  revolution. 
It  deals  with  a community  just  as  it  is,  and  proceeds 
to  that  degree  of  prohibition  or  counter-attraction  which 
the  case  permits.  In  short,  it  is  a halfway  measure 
which  dismisses  the  idea  of  immediately  abolishing  the 
saloon  in  a community  thoroughly  wonted  to  its  use. 


266 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


and  anticipates  that  partial  reform  may  open  the  way 
to  gi-eater  changes. 

As  has  been  already  stated,  no  scheme  of  this  nature 
can  have  any  interest  for  those  who  without  discrimina- 
tion or  practical  intention  cast  an  unavailing  vote  for 
prohibition,  and  then  regard  their  duty  to  temperance 
as  fulfilled.  There  are  those,  however,  who  remain  dis- 
satisfied with  sentimental  protests,  and  who  are  ready 
to  use  such  partial  and  preparatory  reforms  as  are  open 
to  them,  cherishing  the  hope  that  a moderate  change 
of  sentiment  prudently  directed  may  lead  to  radical  re- 
form. If  they  cannot  abolish  the  traffic,  they  will  he 
glad  to  have  it  diminished.  If  they  cannot  stop  expendi- 
ture for  liquor,  they  will  direct  that  expenditure  from 
ways  of  personal  profit  to  ways  of  public  utility.  If 
the  saloon  must  exist,  they  will  try  to  have  it  managed 
so  that  the  taste  for  strong  liquor  will  be  discouraged, 
and  the  taste  for  harmless  drink  and  nutritive  food  will 
be  stimulated.  Liquor  dealers  are,  for  the  most  part, 
completely  indifferent  to  the  violent  oratory  and  inef- 
fective vote  of  those  who  give  themselves  to  the  impos- 
sible task  of  abolishing  the  drink  habit.  They  are 
keenly  observant  of  any  practicable  plan  which  looks 
to  the  removal  of  the  traffic  from  the  sphere  of  private 
profit  and  tends  to  make  the  saloon  itself  an  agent  of 
temperance. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE  HOUSING  OE  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE. 

A FREQUENT  objection  is  heard,  whenever  clubs  and 
amusements  for  the  working  people  are  discussed,  that 
there  is  more  harm  than  good  in  all  these,  that  they 
must  tend  to  the  disintegration  of  the  home.  A few 
years  ago,  when  a movement  for  working  people’s  clubs 
in  New  York  was  contemplated,  energetic  statements 
appeared  in  the  press  to  the  effect  that  all  such  clubs 
were  beside  the  mark ; that  if  a few  dollars  were  spent 
upon  each  of  ten  thousand  homes  of  the  poor,  the  results 
would  be  better  than  if  the  same  amount  were  spent 
upon  any  single  charitable  clubhouse.  The  two  points 
of  view  do  not  stand  in  opposition.  True,  the  home  is 
of  first  importance.  But  it  will  probably  be  found  that 
a wise  provision  of  other  substitutes  will  have  a favor- 
able influence  upon  the  home.  As  Mr.  Riis  has 
pointed  out,^  “ the  higher  standards  now  set  up  on 
every  hand,  in  the  cleaner  streets,  in  the  better  schools, 
in  the  parks  and  clubs,  in  the  settlements,  and  in  the 
thousand  and  one  agencies  for  good  that  touch  and 
help  the  lives  of  the  poor  at  as  many  points,  will  tell  at 
no  distant  day,  and  react  upon  the  home  and  upon  its 
builders.”  It  was  a realization  of  this  truth  which  led 
the  New  York  Tenement  House  Committee  of  1894  to 
include  in  its  recommendations  the  establishment  of 
1 A Ten  Years'  War,  p.  21. 


268 


SUBSTITUTES  FOE,  THE  SALOON. 


small  parks  for  tke  East  Side  of  New  York,  for  suita- 
ble playgrounds  in  connection  with  the  public  schools, 
and  for  recreation  piers.  Sanitary  laws  and  building 
codes  will  not  do  the  whole  work.  The  home  is  built 
from  within,  not  from  without.  A standard  must  be 
set,  and  this  standard  is  set  by  all  substitutes  that  are 
conceived  in  the  right  spirit.  A man  who  is  careful 
of  his  habits  in  his  clean  clubroom,  will  think  more  of 
being  careful  in  his  own  home.  The  members  of  work- 
ing girls’  clubs  will  appreciate  the  necessity  of  tidy 
homes,  and  will  know  how  to  make  them  so  on  little 
means.  The  sight  of  flowers,  books,  and  pictures  will 
create  a demand  for  them  in  the  home.  Social  agencies 
of  the  right  kind  are  not  substitutes  for  the  home,  but 
creators  of  ideals  which,  when  they  are  perceived  and 
become  operative,  will  themselves  help  to  make  the 
home  what  it  ought  to  be. 

But  all  this  cannot  happen  until  the  home  has  be- 
come at  least  inhabitable,  until  the  elementary  demand 
for  sanitation,  privacy,  air,  and  space  is  made  possible. 
The  first  step,  then,  in  providing  for  the  home  life  of 
the  wage-earners  of  America  is  to  find  them  homes  to 
live  in  which  are  sufficiently  large  for  those  who  occupy 
them,  which  admit  the  sun  for  at  least  a part  of  the 
day,  have  some  clean  court  or  space  or  yard  for  the 
children  to  play  and  the  older  ones  to  breathe  in,  and 
make  some  adequate  provision  for  bathing  and  sanitary 
conveniences. 

In  the  majority  of  our  cities  ^ the  tenement  house 

^ Housing  Conditions  and  Tenement  Laws  in  Leading  American  Cit- 
ies, a special  report  of  the  New  York  Tenement  House  Commission, 
prepared  by  Lawrence  Veiller,  Secretary. 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  269 


problem  is  unknown.  In  most  of  them,  too,  the  hous- 
ing problem  has  not  yet  become  acute,  the  evils  of 
overcrowding  have  not  become  felt.  The  working  peo- 
ple live  in  small  wooden  houses,  one  or  two  stories  in 
height,  containing  anywhere  from  three  to  eight  rooms. 
For  the  most  part  only  one  family  lives  in  a house, 
rarely  more  than  three  families  in  a two-story  dwelling. 
Often  these  houses  are  owned  by  their  occupants,  and 
when  a rental  is  paid,  it  is  not  out  of  proportion  to  the 
average  wage.  As  a rule,  these  houses  are  not  set  too 
close  together,  and  some  space  at  least  is  left  in  front 
of  the  buildings.  This  is  true  even  in  the  largest  cities. 
In  Philadelphia,  for  example,  there  are  no  tenement 
houses.  The  great  majority  of  the  working  people, 
even  the  very  poor  people,  have  homes  of  their  own,  in 
most  cases  with  land  around  them.  “ The  experience 
of  Philadelphia  offers  ample  evidence  that  a system  of 
tall  tenement  houses  is  unnecessary  in  any  of  our  large 
cities.”  The  experience  of  other  cities  leads  to  the 
same  conclusion.  It  has  been  estimated  that  not  over 
five  per  cent  of  all  the  houses  in  Cleveland  are  occu- 
pied by  more  than  one  family ; that  not  over  fifty  large 
tenement  buildings  are  to  be  found  in  the  entire  city  of 
Buffalo.  In  the  very  worst  portion  of  Baltimore  not 
more  than  one  thousand  families  could  be  found  living 
in  houses  containing  more  than  three  families.  In  San 
i'rancisco.  New  Orleans,  Denver,  St.  Paul,  and  Minne- 
apolis and  even  Chicago,  tenement  houses  are  practi- 
cally unknown. 

But  because  the  evils  of  the  tenement  house  system 
and  of  overcrowding  are  not  felt,  it  does  not  follow  by 
any  means  that  the  homes  of  the  working  people  are 


270 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


all  that  they  should  or  may  be.  All  that  this  means  is 
that  the  essential  conditions  for  an  adequate  home  en- 
vironment are  present ; it  does  not  mean  that  the  right 
kind  of  a home  has  been  even  imperfectly  realized. 
Cleanliness  is  often  at  a discount,  even  when  external 
conditions  are  favorable,  and  bathing  facilities  are 
never  equal  to  the  necessities  of  a working  people’s 
neighborhood.  One  has  only  to  compare  the  tidy,  jdea- 
sant  looking  homes  of  some  factory  employees,  or  the 
cottages  of  building  associations,  with  the  dirty, 
squalid  wooden  buildings,  acres  of  which  meet  the  eye 
in  almost  any  city,  to  see  how  great  is  the  need  that  still 
remains.  The  municipality  might  do  much  by  a syste- 
matic improvement  of  adjacent  property  ; land  owners 
and  landlords  might  do  more  if  human  sympathy  were 
added  to  an  eye  for  business ; and  neighborhood  asso- 
ciations, friendly  visitors,  church  guilds  and  other 
benevolent  agencies  might  do,  are  already  doing,  much 
to  impart  some  elementary  knowledge  of  sanitation  and 
hygiene,  to  create  ideals  and  demands  which,  sooner  or 
later,  must  be  made  visible  in  the  homes  of  the  poor. 
This  is  said  in  order  to  impress  the  truth  that  the  real 
problem  of  an  adequate  home  life  only  begins  when  the 
tenement  house  problem  and  the  problem  of  overcrowd- 
ina:  have  been  solved. 

But  in  some  of  our  cities  even  the  elementary  obsta- 
cles to  good  homes  have  yet  to  be  overcome.  Over- 
crowding is  plainly  visible  in  some  cities  where  the  ten- 
ement house  is  unknown.  It  is  visible  in  New  Orleans, 
where,  in  some  of  the  old  dwellings  formerly  occupied 
by  wealthy  people,  many  poor  families  are  too  often 
crowded ; it  is  plainly  visible  in  Pittsburg,  where  in 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  271 


certain  sections  overcrowding  is  growing  worse  day  by 
day.  In  Chicago,  the  I’ear  tenement  prevails,  and  the 
cellar  dwellings,  the  dilaj^idated  wooden  houses,  and 
the  overcrowding  of  building  lots  have  created  a pro- 
blem of  no  mean  proportions.  Cincinnati  is  worse  off 
than  Chicago,  and  Boston  than  Cincinnati.  As  far  as 
can  be  ascertained,  the  majority  of  the  working  people 
in  Cincinnati  live  in  tenements  arranged  for  more  than 
three  families  each,  a considerable  number  of  them 
living  in  large  brick  tenement  houses.  Only  a small 
number  of  the  working  people  live  in  separate  houses. 
“ One  of  the  woi’st  tenements  in  Cincinnati  is  the  noto- 
rious building  known  as  ‘ Rat  Row,^  the  rear  of  the 
building  being  located  on  the  river  front,  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  tenants  being  of  the  very  worst.  The 
building  contains  over  one  hundred  rooms,  occupied 
chiefly  by  Negroes  and  low  whites,  and  is  continually 
under  police  and  sanitary  surveillance.  Up  to  the  pre- 
sent time  little  has  been  done  to  remedy  the  bad  hous- 
ing conditions.” 

Boston  is  said,  after  New  York,  to  have  the  worst 
tenement  house  conditions  of  any  American  city. 
Until  recently  it  tolerated  the  old  wooden  tenement 
house  of  the  poorest  type.  Every  one  remembers  the 
rookeries  on  Lincoln  Street  which  resisted  until  the 
very  last  the  advance  of  trade.  Others  of  the  kind  still 
exist  in  the  North  and  West  ends,  fronting  on  narrow 
alleys,  crowded  with  many  foreign  families.  The 
number  of  these  buildings,  however,  is  being  constantly 
decreased,  and  those  which  are  taking  their  places  are 
of  a much  better  type.  Those  that  do  exist  are  not  so 
bad  by  far  as  the  New  York  tenements  in  that  they 


272 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


are  not  so  liigli,  do  not  cover  so  much  of  the  ground, 
and  do  not  harbor  so  many  peojde.  Aside  from  the 
tenements,  however,  the  housing  conditions  are  often 
very  poor.^  Thus  in  the  South  End,  where  large  tene- 
ment buildings  do  not  exist,  the  working  people  live 
under  conditions  detrimental  alike  to  their  health  and 
to  their  morals.  There  is  not  sufficient  space.  The 
sanitary  arrangements  are  poor.  There  are  no  bathing 
facilities,  and  occasionally  a house  intended  for  the 
occupation  of  one  family  contains  from  four  to  eight. 
Of  late  years  considerable  effort  has  been  jDut  forth, 
especially  under  the  auspices  of  the  Twentieth  Century 
Club,  to  improve  these  housing  conditions.  That  an 
improvement  was  imperative,  the  figures  of  the  Tene- 
ment House  Census  of  1891-92  plainly  proved.  It 
was  shown  that  “ fully  one  fourth  of  the  tenement  house 
population  of  the  (South  End)  district  live  under  spe- 
cially objectionable  sanitary  conditions.” 

New  York  City  stands  in  a class  by  itself.  A study 
of  New  York’s  tenement  house  problem  shows  that 
there  is  practically  no  limit  to  the  mischief  which 
cupidity  and  neglect  can  accomplish  when  they  are 
left  to  travel  hand  in  hand.  In  1834  and  again  in 
1842,  while  many  of  our  great  Western  cities  were 
forests  or  swamps,  attention  was  called  to  the  evils  of 
overcrowding  and  of  bad  housing  conditions  in  New 
York.  But  nothing  was  done.  Dr.  Griscom,  the 
head  inspector,  who  made  the  report  in  1842,  found 
that  there  were  then  1459  cellars  being  used  as  resi- 
dences by  7196  persons.  The  number  of  victims  of 
consumption  among  those  living  in  incessant  dampness 
1 The  City  Wilderness,  pp.  63-70. 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  273 


was  found  to  be  very  great.  He  recognized  also  the 
evils  of  overcrowding,  and  estimated  that  as  many  as 
6618  different  families  were  living  in  courts  or  rear 
buildings.  He  pointed  out  at  that  early  day  the  grave 
moral  evils  resulting  from  overcrowding,  and  urged  the 
city  legislature  to  take  action.^  If  action  had  been 
taken,  Manhattan  Island  would  not  be  to-day  the  worst 
place  in  America,  if  not  in  the  world,  for  laboring 
people  to  live.2  When  the  first  legislative  commission 
was  appointed  in  1856,  it  was  given  seven  days  to 
make  its  report.  When  its  members  asked  for  a 
further  extension  of  time,  it  was  denied  them,  and 
when  they  spent  all  summer,  at  their  own  expense,  in 
preparing  a report,  which  for  thoroughness  and  far- 
sightedness has  never  been  excelled,  the  legislature 
failed  to  adopt  their  suggestions.  One  of  the  sugges- 
tions of  1856  would  have  settled  the  whole  problem. 
It  has  just  been  lu-ged  again,  in  the  Report  of  the 
Commission  of  1900.  This  suggestion  is  that  a perma- 
nent Tenement  House  Commission  be  created,  which 
shall  have  the  power  to  visit,  enter,  and  inspect  any 
tenement  house ; if  it  is  in  improper  condition,  to  direct 
the  owner  to  repair  it  within  a speciHed  time ; and  if 
it  is  decreed  untenantable,  to  forbid  it  to  be  occupied 
and  to  have  it  destroyed.  If  this  measure  had  been 
passed  in  1856,  New  York  would  have  been  spared 
thousands  of  lives  and  millions  of  dollars.  The  rest  of 
the  history  of  commissions  and  their  reports  is  one  story 

1 Annual  Report  of  the  Interments  in  the  City  and  County  of  New 
York,  for  the  year  1812,  by  John  H.  Griscom,  M.  D. 

2 Tenement  House  Reform  in  New  York,  1834-1900,  by  Lawrence 
Veiller. 


274 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


of  legislative  evasion,  halfway  measures,  and  double 
dealing. 

The  results  are  well  known.  In  1857  the  commis- 
sion discovered  twelve  families  residing  in  one  building, 
some  of  them  occupying  one  close  unventilated  apart- 
ment, persons  of  both  sexes  huddled  indiscriminately 
together.  The  overcrowding  increased  steadily  year 
by  year.^  “ In  1880  the  average  number  of  persons  to 
each  dwelling  in  New  York  was  16.37  ; in  1890  it  was 
18.52  ; in  1895,  according  to  the  Police  Census,  21.2.” 
In  1880  the  East  Side,  the  most  crowded  section  in  the 
world,  contained  432.3  persons  to  the  acre.  In  1890 
there  were  522  to  the  acre,  and  in  1895,  643.08.  The 
block  between  Sixty-first  and  Sixtj'-second  streets. 
Tenth  and  Eleventh  avenues,  contains  3580  people  or 
974.6  to  the  acre.  Year  by  year  the  great  tenement 
houses,  with  their  deadly  air-shafts,  have  gone  steadily 
up,  standing  so  close  to  one  another  that  sunshine 
and  pure  air  are  shut  out  from  the  majority  of  the 
rooms,  and  into  them  families  have  been  crowded 
together  under  conditions  utterly  subversive  of  aU  phy- 
sical and  moral  well-being.  In  a typical  tenement,  Mr. 
Eiis  counted  forty-three  families  where  there  should 
have  been  sixteen. 

The  most  discouraging  feature  of  the  whole  story  is 
the  discovery  that  those  who  have  meant  to  better  the  con- 
ditions have  more  than  once  succeeded  only  in  making 
them  worse.  It  was  the  “ model  tenement  ” which  the 
Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor 
erected  on  Mott  Street  that  later  became  one  of  the 
worst  tenement  houses  in  the  city.  It  was  the  “ prize 
1 A Ten  Years'  IFar,  p.  34. 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  275 


plan”  of  the  Tenement  House  Competition  of  1879 
which  produced  the  “ double-decker  dumb-bell  tene- 
ments ” which  are  so  much  worse  than  the  old  ones. 
The  whole  history  of  tenement  house  reform  in  New 
York  shows  how  hard  it  is  to  get  out  of  such  a trouble, 
when  once  involved  in  it. 

The  economic  and  moral  results  of  bad  housing  have, 
in  all  these  years,  been  made  increasingly  clear.  It 
has  become  apparent,  for  one  thing,  that  there  is  a 
direct  loss  in  economic  efficiency.  Sir  James  Paget, 
the  distinguished  physician,  estimates  that  the  surely 
preventable  loss  inflicted  upon  English  wage-earners 
amounts  to  fully  fifteen  millions  of  dollars  annually. 
Some  years  ago  the  Board  of  Health  in  London  insti- 
tuted an  inquiry  to  see  how  much  time  was  lost  from 
work  among  the  people  of  the  East  Side,  not  by  sick- 
ness, but  by  exhaustion  and  inability  to  work.  “ It 
was  found  that  upon  the  lowest  average  every  work- 
man or  workwoman  lost  about  twenty  days  in  the  year 
from  simple  exhaustion.”  ^ There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  same  I'esults  would  be  found  to  be  true  in 
New  York  during  all  these  years.  Yet  this  is  only  the 
beginning  of  a terrible  story  of  human  wreckage  and 
waste. 

As  for  the  mortality  in  these  New  York  tenement 
districts,  let  the  figures  tell  the  story.'-^  At  a time  when 
the  general  death  rate  was  24.63,  the  rate  in  ninety- 
four  tenements  was  62.9.  When  some  of  the  worst  of 
these  tenements  had  been  cleared  away,  the  death  rate 
of  New  York  came  down  from  26.32  in  1887  to  19.53 

1 The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Reform,  p.  .326. 

2 A Ten  Years'  War,  pp.  71,  77,  79. 


276 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


in  1897.  The  infant  mortality  in  the  tenements,  as 
might  be  expected,  is  appalling.  The  Tenement  House 
Committee  has  rightly  called  the  rear  tenements 
“ slaughter  houses,”  for  there  more  than  one  babe  in 
every  five  born  is  condemned  to  death.  The  exact 
figures  are  204.54.  And  while  the  general  infant 
death  rate  for  the  whole  tenement  house  population  in 
1888  was  88.38,  the  rate  for  the  Mott  Street  Barracks 
was  actually  325  per  1000. 

When  people  are  herded  together  without  any  possi- 
bility of  privacy  as  they  are  in  the  tenements,  the 
moral  standards  are  gradually  lowered,  and  finally  dis- 
ajDpear.  Prostitution,  thieving,  and  murder  thrive  in 
these  dark  haunts.  Death  rates  are  often  but  a feeble 
index  to  the  evils  of  congested  tenement  life.  There 
is  no  death  so  sad  as  the  death  of  ideals,  the  deaden- 
ing of  at  least  a desire  for  better  things. 

As  for  poverty  and  disease,  the  recent  tenement 
house  exhibit  presented  the  most  startling  evidence. 
The  “Poverty  ” and  “Disease”  maps  were  doubtless 
the  most  impressive  feature  of  the  whole  exhibition. 
It  was  shown  that  there  was  hardly  a tenement  house 
in  the  entire  city  which  had  not  furnished  five  families, 
and  some  had  provided  as  many  as  seventy-five  which, 
in  five  years’  time,  had  been  applicants  for  charity.  As 
for  tuberculosis,  nearly  every  tenement  house  had  had 
one  case  of  it  in  these  five  years,  and  some  as  many  as 
twelve. 

It  is  to  be  regTetted  that  no  similar  maps  were 
planned  to  show  the  clo.se  relation  existing  between 
drunkenness  and  bad  housing  conditions.  It  has  long 
been  felt  that  it  is  by  no  accident  that  the  saloons  are 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  277 


crowded  thickly  in  the  tenement  house  districts.  “ It 
occurs  too  often  to  be  only  that.  The  most  congested 
districts  of  New  York  are  also  the  regal  domains  of 
liquordom.  In  one  place  148  saloons  are  all  located 
within  a space  514  yards  long  by  375  yards  wide.”^ 
In  the  Annual  Eeport  of  the  Association  for  Improving 
the  Condition  of  the  Poor  for  1853  is  included  the 
report  of  a committee  on  the  sanitary  condition  of  the 
laboring  classes,  which  thus  describes  the  relation  of 
drunkenness  to  bad  housing  conditions  : “ The  dread- 
ful depression  consequent  in  ill  health  tempts  these 
poor  creatures,  with  a force  which  we  cannot  adequately 
appreciate,  to  have  recourse  to  stimulating  drink. 
. . . The  wonder  is  not  that  so  many  of  the  laboring 
classes  crowd  to  the  liquor-shops,  but  that  so  many  ai*e 
found  struggling  to  make  their  wretched  abodes  a 
home  for  the  family.  . . . The  depressed  and  low 
condition  of  health  in  which  these  people  are  found 
induces  habits  of  intemperance  unfortunately  so  com- 
mon among  them.  To  which  may  be  added  the  obser- 
vation of  an  employer  who  says  : ‘ It  may  be  taken 
as  an  axiom,  that  if  you  make  the  workingman’s  home 
comfortable,  he  will  give  up  the  public  house  and  its 
ruinous  consequences  ; and  that  when  the  workingman’s 
home  is  little  better  than  a pigsty,  that  man  will 
always  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  public  house  or  beer- 
shop.’  ” 

An  investigation  into  the  relation  of  overcrowding 
to  drunkenness  in  England  brought  out  clearly  the 
fact  that  in  the  most  congested  portions  of  England 
drunkenness  is  most  prevalent.  In  their  report  the 

1 E.  R.  L.  Gould  in  the  Municipal  Affairs  Magazine,  March,  1899. 


278 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


Royal  Commissioners  said : “ The  strictest  caution  is 
necessary  not  to  let  regret  and  disapproval  of  the 
ravages  of  intemperance  divert  attention  from  other 
evils  which  make  the  homes  of  the  working  classes 
wretched,  evils  over  which  they  never  had  any  control. 

. . . Drink  and  poverty  act  and  react  upon  each  other. 
Discomfort  of  the  most  abject  kind  is  caused  by  drink, 
but  indulgence  in  drink  is  caused  by  overcrowding  and 
cognate  evils,  and  the  poor  who  live  under  the  conditions 
described  have  the  greatest  difficulty  in  leading  decent 
lives,  and  of  maintaining  decent  habitations.”  ^ And 
Mr.  Riis  has  tersely  put  the  case  in  this  form  : “ Any- 
body, I should  think,  whose  misfortune  it  is  to  live 
in  the  slums  might  be  expected  to  find  in  the  saloons  a 
refuge.”  ^ 

Thus  the  experience  of  New  York  is  a warning,  on 
the  one  hand,  of  what  greed  and  neglect  can  accom- 
jjlish  in  the  way  of  bad  housing  conditions,  and,  upon 
the  other  hand,  of  the  terrible  results  of  such  conditions 
on  the  health  and  happiness  of  the  working  people. 
Yet  it  would  be  too  much  to  say  that  no  good  has  come 
out  of  all  this  evil.  If,  for  one  thing,  our  other  Amer- 
ican cities  are  made  to  realize,  by  the  experience  of 
this  homeless  city,  in  whose  forty  thousand  tenement 
houses  more  than  half  of  its  population  are  doomed  to 
live,  the  possible  dangers  to  which  the  cupidity  of 
landlords  and  civic  indifference  expose  them,  even  so 
severe  a lesson  may  have  held  a blessing  in  disguise. 
But  another  good  has  come  out  of  it.  In  spite  of  all  the 
mistakes  of  the  past  fifty  years,  the  study  of  the  coudi- 

1 The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Iteform,  pp.  598-600. 

2 A Ten  Years'  War,  pp.  lO-i,  105. 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  279 


tions  in  New  York  has  borne  its  fruit,  and  we  have 
to-day  conclusive  scientific  testimony  not  only  to  the 
evil  results  of  bad  housing  conditions,  but  to  the  possi- 
bility of  overcoming  these  conditions,  and  of  housing 
the  wage-earners  of  any  city  in  wholesome  and  comfort- 
able homes,  at  the  same  time  leaving  to  the  landlord  a 
suitable  interest  on  the  capital  invested.  By  this  is 
not  meant  that  such  conditions  are  immediately  realiz- 
able in  New  York.  That  city  must  pay  for  its  neglect 
of  the  past  by  having,  as  a result  of  the  best  obtainable 
legislation  and  concerted  effort,  buildings  which,  while 
they  are  not  a public  nuisance  and  a menace  to  the 
very  lives  and  morals  of  the  community,  still  fail  to 
furnish  even  a passable  home  environment.^  But,  in 
general,  the  terms  upon  which  good  home  conditions 
may  be  purchased  have  been  definitely  determined,  and 
the  results  of  this  economic  experience  are  at  the  dis- 
posal of  those  interested  in  municipal  conditions. 

A summary  of  these  results  must  now  be  given. 
They  will  be  found  valuable  whenever  any  community 
faces  its  housing  problem,  — the  problem  of  overcrowd- 
ing, unsanitary  conditions,  relieving  congested  districts, 
doing  away  with  wretched  buildings,  and  putting  in 
their  place  suitable  homes  for  those  upon  whose  in- 
dustrial efficiency,  morality,  and  happiness  depend  the 
prosperity  of  the  nation. 

Sanitai-y  reform  is  the  foundation  of  any  effort  to 
provide  suitable  homes  for  the  working  people.  Ex- 
perience has  conclusively  shown  that  this  cannot  be 
surely  and  expeditiously  brought  about  by  the  regu- 
larly constituted  authorities  alone.  Cooperation  of 
1 Report  of  the  New  York  Tenement  House  Commission,  1900. 


280 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


public-spirited  citizens,  sanitary  aid  societies,  and  other 
associations  is  very  desirable.^  Some  of  the  funda- 
mental requirements  of  a sanitary  code  are  : — 

1.  Provision  for  periodical  inspection  of  tenements, 
in  addition  to  visitation  expeditiously  made  after  com- 
plaint. 

2.  A thorough  whitewashing,  at  least  twice  a year, 
of  districts  where  low-grade  houses  are  found. 

3.  A large  enough  force  of  inspectors  to  permit  fre- 
quent night  visitations,  with  a view  to  prevent  over- 
crowding. 

4.  Making  overcrowding  an  offense  involving  exem- 
plary punishment  of  the  offender. 

5.  Kequiring  the  owners  of  houses  sheltering  six 
families  or  more  to  maintain  a janitor  on  the  pi'emises. 

6.  The  power  summarily  to  close  houses  unfit  for 
human  habitation  simply  by  mailing  a notice  to  the 
proprietor  or  agent  at  his  last  known  address  and 
posting  a warning  upon  the  house  itself  not  less  than 
twenty-four  hours  before  ordering  vacation. 

7.  Ticketing  houses  in  which  overcrowding  is  cus- 
tomary, on  the  same  plan  as  is  adopted  by  the  Glasgow 
Board  of  Health. 

8.  Expropriation  of  irremediably  insanitary  property. 
One  thing  in  connection  with  any  health  or  building 
regulations  is  sure.  It  will  not  do  to  leave  anjdhing 
“ to  the  discretion  ” of  the  health  officer  or  building 
inspector.  The  New  York  law  of  1895  permitted  the 
Commissioner  of  Buildings  at  his  discretion  to  allow, 
in  special  cases,  as  much  as  seventy-five  per  cent  of 
a lot  to  be  built  upon,  instead  of  only  sixty-five  per 

1 E.  R.  L.  Gould,  Municipal  Affairs  Magazine,  March,  1899. 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  281 


cent,  which  was  to  be  the  rule.  The  result  was  that 
every  case  became  a special  case  and  all  new  tenement 
houses  were  permitted  to  occupy  seventy-five  per  cent 
of  the  lot. 

It  has  also  been  definitely  determined  that  whenever 
the  housing  problem  becomes  acute,  the  only  remedy 
lies  in  the  method  of  ticketing  or  licensing  houses 
which  have  too  large  numbers  of  families,  vesting  in 
the  specially  appointed  officers  absolute  authority  to 
close  buildings,  arrest  the  offenders,  and  to  expro- 
priate evidently  unwholesome  buildings.  Until  suck 
a statute  has  been  enacted  little  real  progress  can  be 
expected.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  city  of 
Washington  has  already  an  ordinance  analogous  to  the 
Glasgow  system.  The  health  officer  is  permitted  to 
put  a placard  on  or  near  the  door  of  crowded  houses, 
stating  the  number  of  occupants  allowed  to  such  a 
building,  and  to  prevent  a greater  number  of  persons 
than  that  specified  to  occupy  any  room  as  a sleeping- 
room. 

The  influence  of  rapid  transit  in  relieving  the  con- 
gested districts  has  already  been  great  and  is  doubtless 
destined  to  be  even  greater.  Yet  it  cannot  be  expected 
that  this  means  will  prove  sufficient  of  itself  to  solve 
the  problem.  It  is,  however,  of  first-rate  importance 
that  the  city  should  refuse  long  and  unlimited  fran- 
chises of  its  transportation  facilities  to  private  com- 
panies without  having  special  regard  to  the  cheapening 
of  fares.  When  the  city  does  not  control  its  own 
street  railroads  it  should  require  of  the  management 
that  during  certain  hours,  when  the  working  jjeople 
are  going  to  and  coming  from  work,  all  persons  shall  be 


282 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


transported,  on  the  presentation  of  fare  tickets  which 
ai’e  sold  at  a reduced  rate.  In  Toronto,  these  tickets 
are  sold  at  the  rate  of  eight  tickets  for  a quarter  of  a 
dollar. 

Ordinances  seeking  to  regulate  the  construction  of 
new  tenement  buildings  wiU  have  regard  to  breathing 
space,  sunlight,  fresh  air,  fire  escapes,  sanitary  and 
bath  conveniences,  and  to  a prevention  of  overcrowd- 
ing. The  report  of  the  New  York  Tenement  House 
Commission  of  1900,  just  appearing,  contains  a sum- 
mary of  the  best  possible  legislation  governing  the 
erection  of  tenements.  To  it  the  reader  must  be  re- 
ferred. It  is  the  last  deliverance  of  experts  on  the 
housing  problem  .1 

1 In  order  that  the  value  of  this  report  shall  be  fully  appreciated, 
the  following  analysis  of  the  contents  of  the  full  report  is  given : — 

I.  General  Report  of  the  Commission. 

II.  Summarized  Statement  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Commission. 

III.  The  Code  of  Tenement  House  Laws  and  other  Specific  Legisla- 
tion recommended. 

IV.  Result  of  Inquiries  or  Investigations  made  hy  the  Commission, 
or  at  its  instance,  which  have  been  made  the  subject  of  special  reports. 
These  special  reports  are  as  follows  ; — 

(1)  Tenement  house  reform  in  New  York  1834-1900;  (2)  history  of 
tenement  house  legislation  in  New  York  1852-1900 ; (3)  housing  con- 
ditions in  Buffalo  ; (4)  housing  conditions  and  tenement  laws  in  leading 
American  cities ; (5)  housing  conditions  and  tenement  laws  in  lead- 
ing European  cities ; (G)  a statistical  study  of  New  York's  tenement 
houses;  (7)  non-enforcement  of  the  tenement  house  laws  in  New  A ork 
in  new  buildings;  (8)  tenement  house  fires;  (9)  tenement  houses 
and  fire  escapes ; (10)  back  to  back  tenements ; (11)  results  of  an 
investigation  of  the  sanitation  of  typical  tenement  houses  ; (12)  small 
houses  for  workingmen  in  New  York;  will  the  housing  problem  be 
solved  by  their  erection  ? (13)  financial  aspect  of  recent  tenement 
house  operations  in  New  York ; (14)  the  speculative  building  of  tene- 
ment houses;  (15)  tenement  houses  as  seen  by  the  tenants;  (16) 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  283 


In  pliilanthropic  or  semi-pliilanthropic  provisions 
for  tlie  housing  of  the  laboring  people,  the  first  step 
is  a scientific  differentiation  of  the  various  divisions. 
It  is  coming  to  be  felt  that  for  the  lowest  divisions  of 
the  social  strata,  separation  is  the  only  possible  method 
whereby  the  drunkard,  the  incorrigible,  the  criminal, 
and  the  unfit  can  be  kept  from  polluting  their  envi- 
ronment. There  must  be  some  special  method  for 
housing  such  characters  under  surveillance,  detaching 
the  children  for  education  and  proper  training.  Such 
a method  has  not  yet  been  discovered,  and  it  would  be 
difficult  to  secure  the  enactment  of  such  a law  in  a 
country  where  the  suffrage  is  given  to  nearly  all  adult 
males. 

Above  this  division,  there  is  the  great  number  of 
the  shiftless,  and  the  irregular  rent  payers,  of  those 
who  are  deep  in  debt  and  who  have  lost  health.  With 
these  the  best  plan  is  the  well-known  ^ Octavia  Hill 
method  of  rent-collecting,  whereby  personal  visitation 
and  encouragement  is  productive  of  the  best  results. 
It  is  not  essential  to  Miss  Hill’s  plan  that  houses 
should  be  acquired.  Yet  this  is  often  done.  The 
essential  thing  is  that  trained  workers  collect  the  rents, 
and  by  their  tact  and  good  advice  bring  about  a new 


tenement  houses  as  seen  by  the  inspector ; (17)  tuberculosis  and  the 
tenement  house  problem ; (18)  the  relation  of  tuberculosis  to  the  tene- 
ment house  problem;  (19)  prostitution  as  a tenement  house  evil ; (20) 
policy  as  a tenement  house  evil ; (21)  tenement  house  labor ; (22) 
public  baths ; (23)  parks  and  playgrounds  for  tenement  house  dis- 
tricts ; (24)  a plan  for  tenements  in  connection  with  a municipal  park  ; 
(2.5)  foreign  immigration  and  the  tenement  house  in  New  York  City ; 
(26)  the  tenement  house  and  poverty. 

^ Eighth  Special  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Labor,  1895,  pp.  161-164 


284 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


order  of  things.  The  only  regulation  insisted  upon  at 
first  is  that  no  lodgers  shall  he  allowed  to  room  with 
the  family.  Habitual  drunkards  are  forced  to  leave 
if  their  rent  remains  unpaid.  But  in  only  a few  cases 
has  this  extreme  measure  been  necessary.  Miss  Hill’s 
success  has  caused  her  plan  to  be  followed  on  the 
Continent  and  in  this  country.  Her  “ rent-collecting 
scheme  occupies  a significant  place  in  the  housing 
problem.”  Dr.  Griscom  in  his  report,  already  referred 
to,  pointed  out  how  uncertainty  of  tenure  kept  the  ten- 
ants from  any  effort  to  take  proper  care  of  their  rooms. 
“ Why  should  I clean  out  to-day,”  said  one  tenant, 
“ a place  from  which  to-morrow  I may  be  cast  out?” 
From  a pecuniary  point  of  view  alone,  sympathy  will 
be  found  to  pay.  “ The  experience  of  a landlord  in 
Mulberry  Bend,  New  York  City,  demonstrates  that 
even  the  worst  persons,  with  careful  watching,  can  be 
made  good  tenants.  The  success  which  has  attended 
Miss  Hill’s  efforts  furnishes  hope,  if  not  certainty,  that 
practically  all  but  social  incorrigibles  may  come  within 
the  purview  of  remunerative  effort.”  College  settle- 
ments have  already  taken  this  work  up.  It  is  an  at- 
tractive and  feasible  method  of  social  service  which 
ought  to  appeal  to  many  individuals  and  organiza- 
tions. 

It  is  for  city  dwellers  wfith  moderate  stipends  and 
steady  habits  that  the  model  tenements  will  be  pro- 
vided. Here  the  outlook,  as  is  well  known,  is  most 
favorable.  And  the  chief  encouragement  is  this, 
that  improved  housing  pays,  not  only  in  the  results 
accomplished,  but  in  dollars  and  cents.  Dr.  E.  R.  L. 
Gould  summarizes  the  experience  of  the  past  in  a table 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  285 


showing  the  rates  of  dividends  paid  and  the  net  profits 
earned  by  thh’ty-four  commercial  and  sixteen  semi- 
philanthropic  enterprises  for  promoting  improved 
housing  in  American  and  European  cities  of  100,000 
inhabitants  and  upwards.  This  table  was  printed  in 
the  Eighth  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor. 
It  appears  that  in  America,  out  of  the  avowedly  com- 
mercial enterprises  engaged  in  furnishing  improved 
housing  facilities,  but  one  paid  less  than  five  per  cent. 
Of  the  two  American  semi-philanthropic  housing  cor- 
porations mentioned,  both  earned  up  to  the  fixed  limit, 
namely,  four  per  cent,  and  in  addition  from  three 
fourths  to  one  and  one  half  per  cent  for  reserve.  In 
Europe  but  six  per  cent  of  all  enterprises  failed  to 
pay.  All  the  rest  were  successful.  An  analysis  of 
the  economic  experience  of  all  companies  engaged  in 
providing  good  housing  facilities  for  the  poor  shows 
that  “ about  five  per  cent  in  dividends  and  a safe  re- 
serve can  be  eaimed  on  model  tenement  dwellings  any- 
where, charging  customary  rents,  provided  the  total 
cost  of  the  completed  property  does  not  exceed  fSOO 
per  room.”  The  principal  American  enterprises  are 
The  Improved  Dwellings  Co.,  and  the  Astral  Apart- 
ments, Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  where  Mr.  A.  T.  White,  a 
pioneer  in  such  work  in  America,  demonstrated  at  the 
start  that  model  tenements  are  not  only  a safe  but  a 
profitable  business  investment ; the  Robert  Ti’eat  Paine 
Co.,  and  the  Improved  Dwellings  Association  of  Bos- 
ton, and  the  Tenement  House  Building  Co.,  and  the 
City  and  Suburban  Homes  Company  of  New  York. 
The  City  and  Suburban  Homes  Company  began  in 
New  York  with  a capital  of  one  million  dollars,  which 


286 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


has  since  been  raised  to  two  million.  The  principle 
upon  which  it  is  founded  is  that  the  housing  problem 
can  be  solved  only  by  economic  methods,  that  there  is 
a middle  ground  between  pure  philanthropy  and  pure 
business,  — investment  philanthropy.  Dividends  are 
limited  to  five  per  cent,  any  surplus  to  be  devoted  to 
an  extension  of  operations.  It  recognizes  the  principle 
of  the  differentiation  of  wage-earners,  and  by  fixing 
its  shares  at  the  low  denomination  of  ten  dollars,  in- 
vites the  wage-earners  themselves  to  invest  their  means 
for  useful  ends.  At  the  present  time  it  is  operating 
nine  buildings  on  the  West  Side  and  a block  on  the 
East  Side,  while  one  hundred  suburban  homes  have 
been  created  on  the  property  owned,  by  the  company 
in  the  borough  of  Brooklyn. 

“ A good  idea  of  the  type  of  buildings  constructed, 
by  this  company  can  be  gained  from  the  following 
sketch  of  the  buildings  on  First  Avenue  between  Sixty- 
fourth  and  Sixty-fifth  streets.  The  broad  central 
courts,  thirty  feet  square,  and  the  recessed  court  from 
the  street,  eighteen  feet  wide,  disseminate  abundant 
light  and  ventilation  through  all  parts  of  the  building. 
Staircases  and  stair  walls  are  entirely  fireproof.  W alls 
of  the  first  story  and  the  dividing  walls  between  each 
grou])  of  apartments  are  also  fireproof.  HaUs  and 
stairways  are  well  lighted  and  steam  heated.  Every 
apartment  is  a complete  home  in  itself,  with  private 
hallway  and  water-closet  well  ventilated,  with  water 
siqqjly  from  tank,  stationary  washtubs  and  sink  of 
large  size,  hot  water  supply  from  central  boiler  system, 
gas  fixtures  and  gas  ranges,  clothes-closets,  dressers, 
and  mantelshelves.  The  buildings  also  contain  dumb- 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  287 


waiters,  shower  baths  on  the  ground  floor,  and  tub  baths, 
particularly  for  the  use  of  women  and  children,  laun- 
dries, wood  and  coal  closets,  storage  rooms,  and  dust 
chutes.  The  two-room  apartments,  of  which  a some- 
what unusual  number  have  been  provided,  contain  ex- 
actly the  same  conveniences  as  the  three  and  four  room 
apartments.”  ^ They  are  especially  adapted  to  small 
families  with  very  limited  incomes,  and  to  aged  couples 
liv’ing  by  themselves. 

The  rents  are  a little  lower  than  for  much  poorer 
quarters  in  surrounding  tenements.  The  rent  collector 
is  a woman,  generally  a welcome  visitor,  and  her  rela- 
tion with  the  tenants  often  leads  to  helpful  words  and 
acts.  Her  advice  is  sometimes  asked  about  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  furniture,  the  care  of  the  children,  and 
other  domestic  matters.  In  one  case  a kindergarten 
was  asked  for,  and  the  company  paid  one  half  the  rental 
of  the  required  room.  The  lessees  are  largely  clerks, 
mechanics,  motormen,  policemen.  A considerable  per- 
centage are  unskilled  laborers.  One  of  the  houses, 
containing  forty-five  apartiDents,  was  set  aside  at  the 
beginning  and  has  been  maintained  for  the  tenancy  of 
self-supporting  women.  Another  is  to  be  constructed 
for  the  exclusive  use  of  Negroes.  Such  are  the  model 
tenements  in  one  of  our  great  cities,  and  they  are 
one  of  the  best  business  investments  to  be  found  in 
New  York. 

For  skilled  laborers  and  others  earning  from  $1200 
to  $1500  a year,  there  is  a further  step  possible.  As 
rapid  transit  facilities  increase,  a larger  number  of 
working  men  and  women  will  live  at  a distance  from 
1 E.  R.  L.  Gould,  Municipal  Affairs  Magazine,  March,  1899. 


288 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


their  work  and  should  have  homes  of  their  own.  To 
make  this  possible,  more  than  one  company  has  built 
cottages  and  allowed  the  tenants  to  pay  for  them  in 
monthly  installments,  in  lieu  of  the  usual  payment  of 
rent.  A life  insurance  policy,  made  out  to  the  com- 
pany until  the  indebtedness  has  been  canceled,  wall 
guard  from  possible  loss  by  death,  and  the  purchaser 
pays  fire  insurance  and  taxes.  By  allowing  as  many 
as  twenty  years  in  which  to  pay  the  purchase  price  of 
the  house,  such  an  arrangement  is  placed  within  the 
reach  of  many  wage-earners. 

Such,  then,  is  the  encouraging  experience  with  this 
important  branch  of  social  economics.  Whenever  it 
becomes  necessary  to  provide  good  homes  for  the  labor- 
ing people  of  any  city,  it  is  a comfort  to  think  that  this 
can  be  done,  and  at  the  same  time  an  investment  of  cap- 
ital be  offered  which  pays  its  five  per  cent  and  much 
beyond. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  houses,  not  the 
homes  of  the  working  people,  have  been  discussed  in 
this  chapter.  The  steps  leading  to  a discussion  of  the 
home  would  be  from  the  outward  environment,  the  four 
walls,  the  cleanliness  and  sunshine,  to  the  questions  of 
domestic  science  and  all  that  it  involves  of  hygiene 
and  thrift,  and  thence  to  the  only  foundations  of  a 
real  home.  The  unselfish  love  of  that  which  is  holy, 
the  steadfastness  of  purpose  which  holds  one  close  to 
the  fulfillment  of  his  ideal,  and  the  willing  sacrifice  of 
all  that  stands  in  the  way  of  its  realization,  — these  are 
the  elements  of  a home,  wherever  that  home  may  be. 
Fundamental  and  personal  as  these  essentials  are,  it  is 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  289 


by  no  means  in  vain  that  one  tries  to  reach  and 
strengthen  them.  All  that  is  done  to  purify,  to  educate, 
and  to  cultivate  the  ideals  reacts  upon  the  character 
and  fulfills  its  highest  aim  when  the  man,  thus  rein- 
forced, takes  the  product  of  his  enlightenment  into  his 
home.  The  same  refinement  due  the  man  is  even  more 
an  obligation  to  the  woman,  who  is  the  real  maker  of 
the  home.  It  is  her  personality  that  creates  the  home 
atmosphere,  and  upon  her  strength  of  character  depend, 
very  largely,  the  nature  and  the  power  of  the  home  in- 
fluence. One  argues  that  a man  must  be  educated  to 
be  able  to  take  his  part  in  the  practical  affairs  of  life, 
but  there  is  nothing  more  practical  than  the  duties  of  a 
home,  nothing  requiring  more  forcibly  clear  judgment 
and  insight,  the  resources  of  a trained  mind  and  hand, 
or  the  ennobling  influence  of  high  ideals.  It  may  be 
just  to  say,  “ What  can  one  expect  of  a man  when  his 
home  is  what  it  is  ? ” It  is  equally  just  to  say,  “What 
can  one  expect  of  a woman  when  her  resources  are 
what  they  are  ? ” It  is  clear  that  the  housing  of  the 
people  does  not  solve  the  problem  of  home  life,  but  in 
so  far  as  externals  are  favorable,  they  do  help  to  raise 
the  standards  of  living  and  to  increase  the  self-respect 
of  the  home  makers. 

A branch  of  the  housing  problem  which  has  received 
little  attention  until  recently  is  the  lodging-house  for 
single  men  who  are  not  living  at  home.  Until  within 
a very  few  years  the  lodging-houses  for  single  men 
have  been  more  inadequate,  unwholesome,  disreputable, 
than  the  family  tenements.  To-day  it  has  been  demon- 
strated, both  at  home  and  abroad,  that  cheap  working- 


290 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


men’s  hotels  can  be  erected  in  the  most  substantial  and 
scientific  way,  need  charge  no  higher  price  than  the 
lodging-house,  and  can  still  earn  enough  from  the  cap- 
ital invested  to  pay  at  least  three  per  cent  dividend 
after  making  deductions  for  repairs  and  other  contin- 
gencies. 

It  may  be  well,  before  speaking  of  these  recent  ex- 
periments, briefly  to  pass  in  review  the  ordinary  lodg- 
ing-houses as  they  exist  in  any  of  our  large  cities.  In- 
formation in  regard  to  the  cheap  lodging-houses  for 
men  has  been  difficult  to  secure.  No  registration  is 
necessary  in  many  cities,  and  official  statistics  are  there- 
fore unavailable.^  The  police  station  lodgings  are  the 
lowest  and  last  resort  for  homeless  men.  A large  base- 
ment room  in  the  Hammond  Street  Police  Station  of 
Cincinnati,  for  example,  is  known  as  the  Hammond 
Street  Bum  Room.  This  room  is  very  large,  and  with 
the  exception  of  a table  and  a chair,  it  is  without  fur- 
niture. In  one  corner  there  is  a great  iron  cage  for 
disorderly  lodgers.  The  Bum  Room  is  free  to  any  man 
who  may  happen  to  be  without  the  means  of  securing 
a lodging  elsewhere,  and  furnishes  sleeping-room  for 
about  two  hundred  men.  In  bad  weather,  when  the 
place  is  crowded,  the  men  lie  in  four  rows  ujjon  the 
floor,  one  row  with  heads  to  each  side  baseboard,  and 
two  rows,  head  to  head,  along  the  middle  of  the  floor. 
It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  “ wedge  ” the  men,  to  turn 

1 The  following  information  is  taken  from  an  article  on  “ Working- 
men’s Hotels,”  by  John  Lloyd  Tliomas  in  Municipal  Affairs  Magazine 
for  March,  1899,  from  a special  report  by  Bryant  Venable  on  Cheap 
Lodging  Houses  in  Cincinnati  and  other  cities,  and  from  the  material 
given  in  the  reports  from  the  different  cities. 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  291 


them  upon  their  sides,  in  which  position  they  occupy 
less  floor  space  than  when  on  their  backs.  Such  are 
the  police  station  lodgings.  They  are  inexcusable. 
The  abolishment  of  the  police  lodging-room  should  be 
immediate  and  final.  In  New  York  it  has  gone. 
“ That  ^wful  parody  on  municipal  charity  . . . after 
twenty  years  of  persistent  attack  upon  the  foul  dens, 
years  during  which  they  were  arraigned,  condemned, 
indicted,  by  every  authority  having  jurisdiction.”  ^ 

In  their  place  there  should  be  a clean,  carefully  con- 
ducted municipal  lodging-house  to  take  proper  care  of 
the  homeless,  under  right  conditions.  New  York  has 
such  city  lodgings.  The  men  must  bathe,  their  clothes 
must  be  fumigated,  a record  of  the  attendance  is  kept, 
and  work  is  assigned,  so  far  as  is  possible.  They  are 
provided  with  a frugal  supper  and  breakfast,  and  clean, 
separate  beds.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  few  “ dead  beats  ” 
escape  the  vigilance  of  the  officials.  Other  cities  are 
trying  the  same  plan,  and  the  result  is  uniformly  suc- 
cessful. Well-ordered,  attractive  municipal  lodging- 
houses  are  a present  necessity. 

When  a homeless  laboring  man  has  money  to  pay 
for  his  lodging,  he  will  turn  to  the  cheap  lodging-house. 
The  house  he  will  go  to  will  depend  on  the  amount  of 
money  he  has.  Five  cents  is  enough  for  at  least  a roof 
over  his  head.  The  five-cent  “ doss  house  ” is  com- 
monly known  as  a “ flop,”  and  its  patron  is  a “ flopper.” 
The  men  sleep  on  the  rough  and  dirty  floor ; there  is 
no  bedding.  Lodgers  occasionally  come  supplied  with 
newspapers,  but  as  a general  thing  they  sleep  upon  the 
bare  floor,  or  on  the  benches  or  tables.  The  shoes  are 
^ A Ten  Years'  War,  p.  16. 


292 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


often  rolled  up  in  the  coat  and  serve  as  a pillow.  When 
the  rooms  are  crowded,  lodgers  are  requested  to  lie  in 
rows  so  as  to  economize  space,  hut  at  other  times  they 
“ flop  ” wherever  they  can  And  a convenient  place  on  the 
floor.  The  ten-cent  house  is  in  many  respects  better. 
Here  we  have  come  to  the  bunks,  which  are  generally 
arranged  in  tiers  of  two  or  three.  Mattresses  and  pil- 
lows are  provided.  These  rooms  are  generally  crowded, 
as  many  as  one  hundred  men  being  lodged  in  a single 
room.  The  men  retire  without  undressing,  and  the 
condition  of  the  beds  and  room  is  sometimes  appall- 
ing. For  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents  a separate  com- 
partment is  furnished,  the  lower  priced  ones  containing 
two  or  more  beds,  the  higher  priced  ones,  a single  bed. 
Each  room  is  just  large  enough  to  accommodate  the 
beds  without  any  additional  furniture.  The  frame 
partitions  between  the  stalls  are  usually  frail,  and  the 
compartments  themselves  close,  warm,  and  oppressively 
odorous. 

Such,  then,  are  the  cheap  lodging-houses  as  they 
exist  in  our  large  cities.  It  is  not  always  easy  to 
ascertain  the  number  of  these  lodging-houses  in  any 
community.  In  Boston,  the  total  number  is  twenty. 
They  are  allowed  by  regulations  to  accommodate  1283 
persons  ; five  of  the  houses  have  baths.  The  ordinary 
price  per  night  is  eighteen  cents,  the  lowest  pi-ice  being 
five  cents.  Lodging-houses  with  saloons  in  the  same  or 
adjoining  building  are  four  in  number.  In  Denver  the 
number  of  cheap  lodging-houses  is  thirty-eight,  of  which 
some  are  of  the  best,  and  none  are  of  the  worst.  Their 
average  daily  patronage  is  1411.  In  New  York  the 
figures  are  as  follows  : — 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  293 

Total  number  of  lodging-houses  ....  112 

Total  number  of  lodgers  allowed  in  these  by 

Board  of  Health 15,233 

Minimum  air  space  per  lodger 400  cu.  ft. 

Total  number  of  houses  with  baths  ...  57 

Total  number  of  lodgers  allowed  in  these  . 8,861 
Total  number  of  baths  with  hot  water  . . 56 

Free  baths 54 

Average  daily  use  of  baths  (total)  ....  546 

Total  number  of  houses  without  baths  of  any 

kind 55 

Total  number  of  lodgers  allowed  in  these  . 6,372 

Lowest  price  for  lodgings  per  night  . . . 10c. 

Ordinary  price  for  lodgings  per  night  . . . 15c. 

Lodging-houses  with  beds  in  separate  com- 
partments, charge 20  to  30c. 

Saloons  in  same  building 33 

“ on  one  side 22 

“ on  both  sides 2 

Entrance  through  saloon 3 


In  Chicago  the  total  number  of  lodging-houses  is  85. 

Of  these  there  are  30  that  have  a capacity  of  from  1 to  50. 

18  that  have  a capacity  of  from  50  to  100. 
24  that  have  a capacity  of  from  100  to  250. 
13  that  have  a capacity  above  250. 

Ten,  fifteen,  and  twenty-five  cents  are  the  ordinary 
charges.  Three  houses  with  saloon  attachment  offer 
free  accommodations,  and  three  charge  but  two  cents. 
Twenty-five  lodging-houses  sell  liquors,  fifty-eight  are 
in  good,  and  twenty-seven  in  bad  sanitary  condition. 
Chicago  has  now  a new  sanitary  law  which  prescribes 
at  least  four  hundred  cubic  feet  of  space  to  one  sleeping- 


294 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


room,  limits  the  number  of  occupants  in  one  sleeping- 
room  to  six,  and  requires  a register  to  be  kept. 

The  general  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  an  investi- 
gation of  these  cheap  lodging-houses  is  that  “ they  are 
deficient  in  everything  that  tends  to  clean  and  healthful 
living,  physically  and  morally.”  In  estimating  their 
influence,  it  must  be  remembered  that  even  when  the 
sanitary  arrangements  are  good,  and  the  room  fairly 
clean,  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  place  may  be  and 
very  often  is  depressing  and  sad.  A man  may  sleep 
without  losing  his  self-respect  or  impairing  his  health, 
and  still  And  little  to  keep  him  within  his  lodging- 
house  during  his  waking  hours.  With  very  few  excep- 
tions, it  may  be  asserted  of  the  ordinary  lodging-house 
for  men  in  any  of  our  great  cities,  that  where  they  are 
not  positively  bad,  they  are  uninviting  and  even  repel- 
lent. They  furnish  nothing  but  the  barest  necessities, 
and  leave  the  desires  for  certain  comforts  and  pleasures 
entirely  out  of  account. 

No  extended  homily  is  needed  to  show  the  relation  of 
such  lodgings  as  these  to  the  saloon.  They  are  the 
regular  rendezvous  of  the  saloon  patron,  and  their 
whole  atmosphere,  positive  and  negative,  is  calculated 
to  swell  the  saloon  attendance.  W^hat  is  wanted  is  a 
lodging-house  which  not  only  provides  decent  accom- 
modation for  the  night,  but  makes  some  provision  for 
a man’s  leisure  hours  during  the  day.  The  ordinary 
cheap  lodging-house  does  not  do  this,  and  neither,  of 
course,  do  the  municipal  lodging-houses  and  those  chari- 
table institutions  whose  mission  is  to  supply  only  the 
immediate  demand  for  food  and  shelter.  Some  benevo- 
lent enterprises  seek  to  make  the  place  attractive  during 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  295 


the  day  as  well  as  at  night.  The  more  ambitious  of 
the  Salvation  Army  shelters,  for  example,  are  known 
as  workingmen’s  hotels,  and  provide  reading  and  social 
rooms  on  a separate  floor.  Every  man  is  required  to  be 
out  of  the  bedrooms  by  nine  o’clock  in  the  morning,  but 
the  social  rooms  are  open  all  day  long.  The  last  report 
(1899)  showed  that  the  Army  operated  forty-nine  such 
shelters  for  men,  with  an  accommodation  of  5311. 
Other  missions  which  furnish  lodgings  occasionally 
make  provision  for  the  social  comforts  of  their  patrons. 
An  illustration  of  the  best  work  of  this  kind  is  fur- 
nished by  the  Bethel  of  St.  Paul.  This  mission 
occupies  two  floors  of  a building,  of  which  the  first  is 
divided  into  a reading-room  and  office  and  a large 
dining-room,  which  is  conducted  on  the  English  coffee- 
house plan.  Very  cheap  rates  are  charged  for  the 
food,  and  a clean  single  room,  with  a single  bed,  is 
offered  at  twenty  cents  a night,  or  one  dollar  a week. 
Loafing-rooms  are  always  open,  and  everything  is  kept 
clean.  The  income  from  the  restaurant  and  lodgings 
meets  all  the  expenses. 

The  work  of  providing  cheap  lodgings  has  been  suc- 
cessfully undertaken  also  by  the  churches.  Olive  Tree 
Inn,  in  New  York  City,  is  a lodging-house  for  men, 
being  a department  of  the  Galilee  Mission  and  Coffee 
House  of  Calvary  Episcopal  Church.  It  contains 
about  one  hundred  beds,  partly  in  dormitories  and 
partly  in  private  rooms.  The  dormitories  are  light  and 
airy.  The  prices  range  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
cents,  the  latter  being  the  charge  for  single  rooms. 
The  weekly  rates  are  slightly  below  the  nightly  prices. 
The  lodgers  have  several  accessory  advantages.  They 


296 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


can  procure  five  and  ten  cent  meals  in  the  Galilee 
Coffee  House ; they  can  use  the  mission  reading-room, 
which  contains  a circulating  library,  and  where  smok- 
ing is  permitted.  It  is  advisable  for  all  missions  and 
churches  which  undertake  to  provide  cheap  lodgings 
to  avoid  the  selling  of  ticket  books  to  societies  and 
individuals  to  be  given  to  applicants  for  aid  instead 
of  coin.  A knowledge  that  these  tickets  are  issued 
cannot  help  becoming  known,  and  is  certain  to  repel 
the  class  of  self-respecting  workingmen  who  object  to 
anything  that  savors  of  charity.  This  plan  may  be 
adopted  by  municipal  lodging-houses,  but  hardly  by 
any  lodging-house  which  hopes  to  succeed  as  a finan- 
cial enterprise.  The  Mills  Hotel  management  has  dis- 
tinctly declared  against  the  issuing  of  tickets.  Origi- 
nally the  Hatfield  House,  situated  at  46  and  48  Ridge 
Street,  New  York,  was  the  property  of  the  Seventh 
Presbyterian  Church.  Since  1895  it  has  been  leased 
to  its  resident  manager.  This  is  a small,  comfortable 
lodging-house  which  has  its  regular  clientage,  and 
charges  from  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  to  two  dollars  a 
week.  The  furnishing  of  cheap  lodgings  for  men  is  a 
legitimate  church  enterprise  which,  if  rightly  conducted, 
should  become  financially  independent  at  once. 

But  the  movement  to  provide  model  lodging-houses 
for  self-respecting  and  self-supporting  wage-earners  has 
in  our  day  become  a commercial  enterprise,  a paying 
investment.  The  experiment  began  in  Europe  about 
ten  years  ago.  In  Hamburg,  in  Glasgow,  and  in  Lon- 
don, large  and  finely  appointed  lodging-houses  for 
single  men  were  ei’ected,  and  without  exception  they 
became  at  once  commercially  profitable.  The  most 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  297 


famous  of  these  houses  in  London  are  the  “ Eowtons,” 
five  of  which  are  already  in  operation.  The  latest  of 
the  “ Rowtons  ” has  provision  for  over  eight  hundred 
men,  each  of  whom,  for  sixpence  a night,  enjoys  the 
full  advantages  offered  by  an  outlay  of  ^050,000.  Lord 
Rowton’s  scheme  pays  in  actual  cash.  Rowton  Houses, 
Limited,  is  one  of  the  most  successful  concerns  in  Lon- 
don, “ a philanthropy  that  pays  five  per  cent,”  to  quote 
Lord  Rosebery.  It  is  to  be  doubted  if  anywhere  else 
in  England  so  much  comfort  can  be  obtained  for  six- 
pence as  in  these  handsome  and  spacious  hotels. 
Whether  model  lodgings  have  been  conducted  by  the 
municipality  or  by  private  individuals  the  results  have 
been  the  same.  The  congestion  of  population  has  been 
reduced,  lodgers  have  been  given  not  only  a good 
night’s  rest,  but  a place  of  comfort  and  recreation,  at 
no  higher  price  than  would  be  charged  at  an  ordinary 
cheap  lodging-house.  The  condition  of  lodgers  morally 
and  physically  has  been  bettered,  and  best  of  all,  a 
radical  improvement  in  all  lodging-houses  has  been 
effected  which  previous  attempts  by  way  of  sanitary, 
registration,  and  inspection  laws  had  failed  to  bring 
about. 

In  America,  with  one  or  two  notable  exceptions,  there 
has  been  little  effort  made  to  imitate  these  successful 
attempts  at  solving  the  j^roblem  of  housing  the  single 
workingman.  Several  years  ago  a beginning  was  made 
in  Baltimore  by  Mr.  Eugene  Levering,  whose  model 
lodging-house  is  still  in  operation.  It  is  located  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Front  and  Fayette  streets.  Beds, 
clean  and  comfortable,  are  provided  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men.  The  prices  charged  vary  from  ten  to 


298 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


twenty-five  cents  according-  to  accommodations.  The 
house  is  open  all  night.  There  is  a reading-room,  sup- 
plied with  a few  games,  magazines,  and  papers,  and  a 
smoking-room.  During  the  winter  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  men  on  an  average  sleep  there.  / A din- 
ing-room is  run  in*  connection  with  it,  where  from 
seventy-five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  meals  are  served 
daily.  The  prices  are  ten  and  fifteen  cents  a meal. 
Since  its  erection  the  capacity  of  the  building  has  been 
doubled,  and  a comfortable  per  cent  of  profits  is  being 
realized  over  and  above  the  expenses  and  improvements. 

A similar  enterprise  in  Philadelphia  owes  its  exist- 
ence to  John  Wanamaker.  The  Friendly  Inn  is  the 
only  model  lodging-house  in  Philadelphia,  hlr.  Wana- 
maker purchased  for  this  purpose  the  Pinney  Hotel, 
situated  on  Ninth  Street.  He  expended  about  f60,000 
on  repairs,  alterations,  and  refurnishings.  The  build- 
ing is  sixty  feet  front  and  ninety  feet  deep,  and  accom- 
modates one  hundred  and  fifty  guests.  On  the  lower 
floor  are  the  office,  the  smoking-room,  and  in  the  rear 
a comfortable  and  spacious  parlor  and  dining-room. 
Above  are  six  floors  with  sleeping  apartments.  In  the 
basement  are  the  kitchen,  lavatories,  and  bathrooms. 
Throughout  the  building  the  greatest  attention  has 
been  paid  to  heating  and  ventilation,  and  especially  to 
sanitary  arrangements.  Meals  are  served  at  ten  cents 
each,  that  is,  at  cost,  and  are  of  excellent  quality,  equal 
to  any  twenty-five  cent  restaiu'ant,  which  must  make 
rent  in  profits.  The  price  of  a single  room  is  twenty- 
five  cents  ; with  two  or  more  beds,  the  price  is  fifteen 
cents.  Reading  matter  is  provided  for  the  guests,  and 
an  employment  bureau  is  carried  on  to  help  a man  to 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  299 


get  work  without  cost.  Only  self-supporting,  deserv- 
ing workingmen  are  allowed  to  enter.  It  is  not  in  any 
sense  a charitable  institution,  and  its  nightly  patronage 
is  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  guests.  This  experi- 
ment, too,  has  been  a financial  success,  and  each  year 
there  has  been  a steady  jirofit  from  the  investment. 

New  York  had  seen  model  lodging-houses  before  the 
advent  of  the  Mills  Hotels,  but  the  “ American  Row- 
tons  ” have  set  the  standard  for  similar  enterprises  in 
other  cities.  They  have  conclusively  proved  what 
everybody  was  inclined  to  believe  before  any  one  was 
willing  to  make  the  venture,  — that  the  experience  of 
Europe  might  be  repeated  in  America,  that  a large 
hotel  for  single  wage-earners  could  both  accomplish  a 
beneficent  work  and  make  money  for  the  investor. 
These  hotels  have  now  been  running  long  enough  to 
have  passed  the  experimental  stage.  They  have  been 
filled  since  they  were  opened.  They  have  forced  the 
better  class  of  Bowery  lodging-houses  to  make  needed 
improvements.  They  have  reached  the  men  for  whom 
they  were  intended,  have  kept  scores  of  men  from  the 
cheap  lodging-house,  have  offered  a most  attractive 
substitute  for  the  saloon,  and  besides  all  this  they  have 
yielded  a profit  on  the  investment  of  11,500,000.  Mr. 
Mills  himself  says  : “ I have  been  able  to  do  a good 
many  things  for  which  I have  been  glad,  but  this  is 
the  most  satisfactory  thing  I ever  did.”  The  Mills 
Hotel,  No.  1,  has  1554  rooms,  and  the  average  number 
of  lodgers  for  twelve  months  was  1559,  a few  rooms 
being  rented  by  day  to  night  workers,  and  rented  again 
at  night  for  day  workers.  The  charges  are  twenty 
cents  a night  for  lodging,  and  meals  can  be  had  for 


300 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON. 


five,  ten,  and  fifteen  cents.  There  is  steam  heat  in 
both  hotels,  electric  lighting,  shower  bath,  reading  and 
writing  rooms.  Mills  Hotel,  No.  2,  has  600  rooms, 
but  in  other  respects  is  similar  to  Mills  Hotel  No.  1. 
The  baths  are  free  of  charge,  and  their  use  by  the 
guests  shows  that  they  are  appreciated.  Nine  hundred 
baths  have  been  given  in  one  day  in  the  larger  hotel. 
There  are  tubs  also  in  which  a man  may  wash  his  own 
clothes,  which  are  quickly  dried  in  a steam  drier.  The 
bedrooms  are  all  separate,  about  seven  and  a half  by 
six  feet  in  size,  and  contain  a single  iron  bedstead,  with 
the  best  mattresses,  pillows,  and  linen.  A strip  of 
carpet  is  on  every  floor,  and  a chair  and  a closet  com- 
plete the  furnishing  of  the  room.  A man  may  retain 
the  same  room  as  long  as  he  pays  for  it.  No  intoxi- 
cated man  is  ever  admitted,  even  if  he  has  paid  for  his 
room.  In  case  a man  has  secured  a room  and  in  the 
evening  returns  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  he  is  sent 
to  the  office,  receives  his  money  back,  and  is  compelled 
to  leave.  As  a result  this  tweuty-cent  hotel  harbors 
self-respecting  men.  Bedrooms  must  be  vacated  from 
9.30  A.  M.  to  5.30  P.  M.,  but  the  reading-rooms  and 
smoking-rooms  of  the  hotel,  as  well  as  the  restaurant, 
are  open  all  day  long  for  the  use  of  guests.  In  the 
restaurant  a good  meal,  wHl  served,  can  be  had  for 
fifteen  cents.  That  they  are  appreciated  is  sho^vn  from 
the  fact  that  both  houses  have  been  full  from  the  day 
they  were  opened.^ 

Here,  then,  are  model  lodgings  for  two  thousand  at 
least  of  the  homeless  and  self-respecting  wage-earners  of 
one  of  our  American  cities.  Just  what  the  profit  on 
1 Municipal  Affairs  Magazine,  p.  89. 


THE  HOUSING  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE.  301 


this  investment  is  at  the  present  time  is  not  known.  It 
is  probably  over  three  and  under  seven  per  cent.  At 
any  rate,  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  model  lodging- 
houses  can  accomplish  an  inestimable  service  to  any 
community  and  at  the  same  time  pay  a generous  divi- 
dend on  the  investment.  If  the  pressing  necessity  and 
practicability  of  such  provision  for  the  needs  of  the 
working  people  has  been  demonstrated,  nothing  pre- 
vents those  who  want  to  invest  their  money  in  some- 
thing that  will  do  more  than  return  dividends  to  them- 
selves from  planting  similar  hotels  in  any  of  our  large 
cities. 


APPENDIX. 


I. 

ATTITUDE  OF  TRADE  UNIONS  TOWARD  THE  SALOON. 

It  is  not,  of  course,  to  be  expected  that  organizations  formed 
with  primary  reference  to  securing  good  wages  and  a reasonable 
length  of  working  day  shoidd  emphasize  their  attitude  upon  other 
issues,  however  important  many  of  the  members  may  deem  them 
to  be.  It  is  quite  customary,  for  example,  for  the  constitutions  of 
trade  unions  to  forbid  the  discussion  in  union  meetings  of  ques- 
tions of  a religious  or  political  character,  such  as  might  create 
divisions  in  the  organization.  In  entering  upon  this  investiga- 
tion, consequently,  the  writer  did  not  expect  to  find  very  much 
in  trade-union  activity  which  would  have  a bearing  directly  upon 
the  temperance  question.  The  result,  however,  while  showing 
nothing  startling,  has  been  a pleasant  surprise,  for  it  has  shown 
that  the  unions  are  a greater  factor  in  developing  temperate  liv- 
ing than  had  been  supposed. 

The  following  table  gives  the  membership  of  the  nine  trade 
unions,  so  far  as  reported,  in  1900  most  active  in  their  opposi- 
tion to  the  saloon  or  in  their  general  claim  of  moral  influence  : — 

Table  I.  Trade  Unions  claiming  a Strong  Antagonism  to 


THE  Saloon. 

Name  of  Organization.  Members. 

Journeymen  Bakers  and  Confectioners  International  Union  4,200 

Order  of  Railroad  Conductors 23,500 

Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firemen 31,500 

United  Garment  Workers  of  America 10,000 

International  Seamen’s  Union 4,000 

Switchmen’s  Union  of  North  America 2,000 

Journeymen  Tailors  Union  of  America 6,217 

Order  of  Railroad  Telegraphers 15,000 

International  Typographical  Union 35,000 


Total 131,417 


304 


APPENDIX. 


One  of  the  officers  of  the  Bakers  and  Confectioners  Union 
writes  from  their  headquarters  in  Brooklyn:  “ We  are  opposed 
to  the  saloon,  especially  when  a ‘ Baker’s  Home  ’ is  connected 
therewith.  Whenever  possible  we  establish  employment  offices 
ourselves,  to  give  work  free  of  charge  to  our  members.”  Libra- 
ries are  also  established  in  the  branches  of  the  union.  The  offi- 
cers state  that  before  the  establishment  of  the  national  body  the 
local  unions  would  hold  meetings  in  the  saloons,  but  that  now  this 
custom  is  very  much  changed. 

The  Order  of  Railroad  Conductors,  according  to  its  officers,  is 
“ absolutely  opposed  to  the  saloon,  and  it  is  incorporated  in  our 
laws  that  a man  cannot  engage  in  the  traffic  of  intoxicating  liquor 
and  remain  a member  of  the  organization.” 

Mr.  F.  W.  Arnold,  of  Peoria,  111.,  secretary  of  the  Brotherhood 
of  Locomotive  Firemen,  writes  : “ Our  brotherhood  opposes  the 
saloon  to  the  extent  that  it  will  not  tolerate  a member  being  con- 
nected with  the  sale  of  liquor,”  and  the  laws  of  the  order  forbid 
any  lodge  from  deriving  revenue  from  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors  at  any  of  its  balls,  picnics,  excursions,  or  other  entertain- 
ments. Mr.  Arnold  declares,  as  do  the  secretaries  of  most  of  the 
unions  mentioned  in  the  above  table,  that  their  lodges  do  not  meet 
in  halls  located  over  or  back  of  saloons.  Mr.  Henry  White,  New 
York  City,  general  secretary  of  the  United  Garment  Workers, 
writes  : “ Our  organization  is  decidedly  opposed  to  the  saloon 
influences,  and  wherever  possible  our  local  unions  meet  in  halls 
not  connected  with  a saloon.  Our  national  and  local  unions  have 
strongly  advocated  the  passage  of  favorable  factory  legislation, 
particularly  such  as  would  mitigate  the  sweating  evil.  Many  of 
the  members  have  been  actively  identified  with  social  reform 
movements,  and  it  has  been  the  training  and  education  received 
at  the  meetings  of  the  unions  which  have  enlarged  their  ideas 
and  created  an  interest  in  public  questions.” 

Mr.  W.  Macarthur,  of  San  Francisco,  secretary  of  the  Inter- 
national Seamen’s  Union,  writes  that  the  different  branches  of  this 
organization,  particularly  the  Sailors’  Union  of  the  Pacific,  have 
established  reading-rooms  well  equipped  with  papers  and  books, 
particularly  those  dealing  with  economic  subjects.  Temperance 
is  also  encouraged,  “ by  constantly  enjoining  sobriety  upon  the 


ATTITUDE  OF  TRADE  UNIONS. 


305 


members,  by  providing  punishments  for  members  failing  in  their 
duty  to  their  employers  through  drunkenness,  and  by  refusing  to 
publish  advertisements  of  saloons,  etc.,  in  the  official  organ.” 
Tills  union  is  making  great  effort  to  free  the  sailors  from  subjec- 
tion to  employment  agencies  and  disreputable  boarding-houses, 
to  secure  better  food  and  better  treatment  from  their  officers, 
and  to  put  an  end  to  imprisonment  for  leaving  vessels  before  the 
expiration  of  their  contracts. 

Mr.  M.  J.  Ford,  Jr.,  editor  of  the  “ Journal  ” of  the  Switchmen’s 
Union,  writes:  “In  our  obligation  there  is  a clause  which  states, 
‘ I will  not  recommend  any  one  for  membership  in  this  organiza- 
tion whom  I know  to  be  a common  drunkard.’  I myself  am  a 
total  abstainer,  and  likewise,  also,  are  the  Grand  Master,  the  Grand 
Secretary  and  Treasurer,  and  the  Vice  Grand  Master.  I visited 
some  of  the  subordinate  lodges  this  summer,  and  at  every  place  I 
spoke  against  the  use  of  liquor.  I have  also  written  against  it  in 
our  official  organ.” 

Mr.  John  B.  Lennon,  of  Bloomington,  111.,  general  secretary 
of  the  Journeymen  Tailors,  writes:  “There  are  very  few  of  our 
unions  that  meet  in  haUs  connected  with  saloons.  They  only  do 
so  in  cities  where  it  is  impossible  to  secure  anything  else,  — nota- 

bly  Chicago  and  New  York,  where  there  are  practically  no  other 

halls  to  be  had;  and  eyen  in  those  cities  they  have  been  and 

are  decidedly  anxious  to  secure  places  not  connected  with  saloons.” 
He  also  makes  the  following  strong  statement : “ Our  organiza- 
tion has  not  officially  taken  any  stand  upon  the  liquor  question. 
Since  we  have  had  an  organization,  however,  the  change  of  habits 
of  the  Custom  Tailors  is  something  marvelous  as  to  this  one 
habit.  I can  well  remember  when  there  could  be  found  in  no 
city,  from  Sunday  until  Tuesday  or  Wednesday  of  the  following 
week,  any  tailors  who  were  sufficiently  sober  to  work  at  their 
trade,  or  if  any,  they  were  very  few.  I believe  most  earnestly 
that  organization  has  been  the  cause  that  has  cured  and  elimi- 
nated this  evil.  You  can  now  go  to  the  same  cities  where  our 
unions  have  existed  from  ten  to  twenty-five  or  thirty  years,  and 
you  will  scarcely  find  a single  member  of  the  organization  that  is 
an  habitual  drunkard.  The  officers  of  our  organization,  myself 
included,  are  decidedly  opposed  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors 


306 


.APPENDIX. 


as  a beverage,  and  I have  not  failed,  whenever  the  opportunity 
has  presented  itself,  to  declare  myself  upon  this  question.” 

rThe  constitution  of  the  Telegraphers  reads  : “ The  use  of  alco- 
holic liquors  as  a beverage  shall  be  sufficient  cause  for  rejecting 
any  petition  for  membership.” 

The  International  Typographical  Union  passed  a vote,  in  its 
convention  in  1894,  calling  for  “ the  state  and  national  destruc- 
tion of  the  liquor  traffic.”  As  the  matter  has  not  come  up  since 
in  any  meetings  of  the  organization,  it  is  uncertain  how  much 
weight  is  to  be  attached  to  this  vote,  but  its  passage  has  at  least 
some  significance. 

Although  some  of  the  other  unions  have  not  taken  as  direct  a 
stand  on  this  subject  as  have  those  just  quoted,  they  have  had 
much  to  do  with  increasing  the  temperate  habits  of  their  mem- 
bers. It  used  to  be  said  that  carpenters,  cigar-makers,  iron- 
workers, printers,  shoemakers,  and  tailors  were  always  drunk  on 
Mondays.  Such  a remark  is  now  rarely  heard. 

Mr.  George  E.  McNeil,  of  Boston,  the  oldest  and  one  of  the 
most  esteemed  leaders  of  the  American  labor  movement,  and  its 
historian,  testified  recently  before  the  National  Industrial  Com- 
mission that  the  social  condition  of  labor,  as  well  as  its  wages, 
had  been  much  improved  by  the  trade  union.  “ It  is  an  educa- 
tional society.  The  men  who  go  into  trade  unions  and  find  other 
men  there  capable  of  discussing  these  questions  have  their  minds 
affected  and  stimulated.  It  has  tended  to  heget  self-respect,  not 
only  in  the  matter  of  clothing,  but  in  habits.  The  offensive 
drunkenness  of  certain  classes  of  laborers  of  years  ago  has  been 
greatly  lessened.  I do  not  say  that  there  are  not  as  many  peo- 
ple who  drink,  but  the  drunkenness  that  swallowed  up  the  farm 
. of  the  farmer  and  the  house  of  the  mechanic  has  been  reduced. 
The  drunken  man  means  a low  wage  man.  Every  trade  union 
is  trying  to  get  high  wages,  but  if  it  has  a drunken  constituency 
it  cannot  succeed.  It  must  elevate  the  habits  of  the  laborer  that 
he  may  rise  to  the  wages  he  demands,  and  drunkenness  has  been 
diminished  and  wages  have  been  increased  through  the  influence 
of  organized  labor.” 


We  will  next  consider  a group  of  six  trade  unions,  with  a mem- 


ATTITUDE  OF  TRADE  UNIONS. 


307 


bership  of  113,074,  whose  leaders  are  in  general  opposed  to  the 
saloon,  but  where  the  opposition  has  taken  a less  pronounced 
form  than  in  the  unions  mentioned  in  Table  I. 

Table  II.  Trade  Unions  reporting  Some  Opposition  to  the 


Saloons. 

Name  of  Organization.  Members. 

Brotherhood  of  Boiler  Makers  and  Iron  Shipbuilders  . . 2,874 

Carriage  and  Wagon  Makers  International  Union  . . . 1,200 

Retail  Clerks  National  Protective  Association  of  the  U.  S.  10,000 
National  Brotherhood  of  Electrical  Workers  of  the  U.  S.  . 5,000 

Knights  of  Labor  of  the  United  States  of  America,  perhaps  30,000 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America 85,000 


Total 134,074 


Mr.  William  G.  Gilthorpe,  secretary  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
Boiler  Makers  and  Iron  Shipbuilders,  states  that  about  one  third 
of  the  branches  meet  in  halls  connected  with  saloons,  but  that  the 
removal  from  such  meeting-places  is  being  advised. 

The  Carriage  and  IVagon  Makers  Union  does  not  allow  any 
liquor  dealer  to  be  a member.  This  is  likewise  true  of  the  Retail 
Clerks  National  Protective  Association.  No  branches  meet  in 
any  hall  connected  with  a saloon. 

The  secretary  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Electrical  Workers, 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  writes  that  the  organization  has  opposed  the 
saloon  by  starting  reading-rooms  and  lectures,  and  adds  : “ The 
trade  union  has  a good  moral  effect  on  its  members.  Better 
wages  make  better  men,  better  men  make  better  homes,  better 
homes  make  a better  country,  and  the  better  the  country  the 
better  its  people.” 

The  Knights  of  Labor,  as  is  well  known,  have  from  the  begin- 
ning refused  to  allow  saloon-keepers  to  become  members,  and 
have  made  large  claims  of  exerting  a broad  educational  and 
moral  influence,  especially  through  what  for  a very  long  time 
was  a feature  peculiar  to  this  organization,  — the  devotion  of  a 
portion  of  each  meeting,  known  as  the  educational  hour,  to  the 
discussion  of  general,  social,  and  economic  questions.  But  the 
organization,  after  giving  birth  to  many  of  the  best  features  of 
the  American  labor  movement,  and  after  having  trained  most  of 


308 


APPENDIX. 


its  leaders  of  to-day,  has  fallen  upon  troublous  times,  and  now 
has  probably  not  more  than  30,000  paying  members  in  good  and 
regular  standing. 

Mr.  W.  C.  Pearce,  secretary  of  the  United  Lline  Workers  of 
America,  which  has  a membership  of  85,000,  writes  from  their 
headquarters  at  Indianapolis  : “ A great  many  of  our  members 
are  opposed  to  the  saloon  and  never  patronize  such  a place. 
Very  few  of  our  local  unions  meet  in  halls  connected  with  the 
saloon.  The  officers  of  the  United  Mine  ^Yorkers  of  Ajuerica 
discourage  in  every  respect  saloon  business.” 

We  will  next  consider  the  situation  in  the  following  twenty 
unions,  embracing  an  American  membership  of  about  180,000 
and  a total  membership  of  308,561.  These  figures,  as  well  as 
others  in  the  article,  are  taken  from  the  letters  to  the  writer 
while  preparing  this  article,  or  from  those  received  while  prepar- 
ing the  one  on  the  “ Benefit  Features  of  American  Trade  Unions,” 
in  the  “ United  States  Bulletin  of  Labor.”  The  figures  for  two  or 
three  of  the  railroad  brotherhoods  are  taken  from  the  membership 
as  quoted  in  1896  or  1897,  in  an  article  in  the  “ United  States 
Bulletin  of  Labor,”  by  Dr.  Emory  R.  Johnson,  on  “ Relief  and 
Insurance  of  Railway  Employees.” 

Table  III.  Trade  Unions  whose  Temperance  Attitude  is 

SEEN  IN  THE  CONSTITUTIONS  OF  THEIR  BENEFIT  OR  INSURANCE 


DEPARTaiENTS. 

Name  of  Organization.  Members. 

Journeyinen  Barbers  International  Union 4,000 

International  Brotherhood  of  Blacksmiths 300 

Amalgamated  Society  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners  ....  1,625 

United  Brotherhood  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners  ....  39,845 
Cigar  Makers  International  Union  of  America  ....  28,000 

Coremakers  International  Union 1,430 

Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers about  1,600 

Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Eng^eers 30,309 

Glass  Bottle  Blowers  Assn,  of  United  States  and  Canada  . 3,000 

Granite  Cutters  National  Union 9,765 

United  Brotherhood  of  Leather  Workers  on  Horse  Goods  475 
Iron  Holders  Union  of  North  America 18,000 


ATTITUDE  OF  TRADE  UNIONS.  309 

Brotherhood  of  Painters  and  Decorators  of  America  . . 5,500 

Pattern  Makers  National  League  of  North  America  . . 1,800 

Quarrymen’s  National  Union  of  United  States  and  Canada  2,000 

Cotton  Mule  Spinners  Association 2,600 

National  Tobacco  Workers  Union  of  America  ....  5,000 

Brotherhood  of  Railroad  Trackmen 1,2.50 

Brotherhood  of  Railroad  Trainmen 22, .326 

Typographia 1,100 


Total 179,925 


If  the  membership  of  the  Amalgamated  Engineers  in  all  coun- 
tries were  included,  its  numbers  would  have  been  given  in  the 
above  table  as  83,564  instead  of  1,600;  and  so  the  Amalgamated 
Society  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners  would  similarly  be  stated  at 
56,634  members  instead  of  1,625,  and  the  total  would  have  been 
raised  to  308,561.  But  the  American  membership  of  the  unions 
given  in  the  table  is  about  179,925,  as  indicated. 

The  distinguishing  feature  of  these  twenty  unions  is  that,  while 
so  far  as  discovered  they  have  enacted  no  special  legislation 
against  the  liquor  traffic,  they  do  have  insurance  or  benefit  fea- 
tures exceeding  the  amount  spent  upon  strikes  but  open  in  most 
eases  only  to  those  of  temperate  habits.  Sick  relief  especially  is 
refused  to  those  whose  illness  was  occasioned  by  intemperance. 
Extracts  from  a few  of  the  constitutions  of  these  organizations 
will  make  this  matter  clear. 

The  constitution  of  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers 
provides  for  a sick  benefit  for  any  member  “ when  visited  by 
mental  disease,  bodily  sickness  or  lameness  not  occasioned  by 
drunkenness  or  disorderly  conduct  or  any  disease  improperly 
contracted.”  This  organization  of  stationary  engineers,  machin- 
ists, smiths,  and  pattern-makers,  with  its  83,564  members  through- 
out the  English-speaking  world,  spent  in  1898  less  than  10  per 
cent  of  its  income  of  S2,253,635  upon  trade  disputes,  while  it 
spent  in  benefits  $1,541,556.  It  had  a balance  on  hand  in  De- 
cember, 1898,  of  .$1,040,607,  or  over  .$12  per  member. 

The  Amalgamated  Society  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners  places 
among  its  qualifications  for  admission,  good  workmanship, 
“ steady  habits,  and  good  moral  character,”  and  refuses  to  give 


310 


APPENDIX. 


sick  benefits  when  sickness  or  lameness  is  occasioned  “ by  drunk- 
enness, disorderly  or  improper  conduct.”  This  organization  spent 
upon  trade  disputes,  as  did  the  engineers,  less  than  10  per  cent 
of  its  receipts,  while  it  expended  most  of  the  balance  in  various 
forms  of  relief. 

The  Iron  Holders  Union  of  North  America  gives  its  sick 
relief  of  @5  per  week  “ provided  that  such  sickness  or  disability 
has  not  been  caused  by  intemperance,  debauchery,  or  other  im- 
moral conduct.”  These  exact  words  also  appear  in  the  pro- 
visions for  sick  and  death  benefits  in  the  constitutions  of  the 
Journeymen  Barbers  International  Union  of  America,  and  in 
that  of  the  Cigar  Makers  International  Union  of  America,  which 
has  the  best  developed  system  of  benefit  features  of  any  Ameri- 
can labor  organization. 

Many  of  the  railroad  brotherhoods  copy  substantially  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Grand  International  Brotherhood  of  the  Loco- 
motive Engineers  in  its  provision  that  no  person  shall  become  a 
member  “ unless  he  is  a white  man  twentj'-one  years  of  age,  and 
can  read  and  write,  and  is  a man  of  good  moral  character,  tem- 
perate habits,  and  a locomotive  engineer  in  good  standing  and  in 
actual  service  as  a locomotive  engineer  when  proposed,  and  has 
had  experience  as  such  at  least  one  year.” 

It  remains  to  give  some  facts  about  ten  other  unions  with 
86,390  members  which  have  reported  on  the  saloon  question,  but 
which  for  one  reason  or  another  have  either  not  attempted  very 
much  directly  in  opposition  to  the  saloon,  or  do  not  claim  to  have 
accomplished  much  save  as  the  general  improvement  in  the  con- 
ditions of  the  craft  has  improved  the  standard  of  life  and  morals 
of  its  members. 

Table  IV.  Tkade  Unions  jiaking  Few  Cladis  of  Direct  Oppo- 


sition TO  THE  Saloon. 

Name  of  Organization.  Members. 

Boot  and  Shoe  Workers  Union 13,000 

National  Union  of  United  Brewery  Workers 16,000 

Coopers  International  Union  of  North  America  ....  3,100 

American  Flint  Glass  Workers  Union T,400 


ATTITUDE  OF  TRADE  UNIONS. 


311 


The  Window  Glass  Cutters  League  of  America  ....  8.50 

United  Hatters  of  North  America about  6,000 

International  Association  of  Machinists 20,000 

American  Federation  of  Musicians 9,152 

International  Wood  Carvers  Association  of  North  America  1,388 
Amalgamated  Wood  Workers  International  Union  of 
America 9,500 

Total 86,390 


Mr.  Charles  F.  Bechtold,  secretary  of  the  United  Brewery 
Workers,  writes  from  their  headquarters  in  Cincinnati : “ I can 
assure  you  that  the  Brewery  Workers  do  not  oppose  the  saloon, 
as  this  would  be  a suicidal  act.  We  have  made  no  efforts  against 
the  saloons.  Most  of  our  local  unions  meet  in  halls  connected 
with  saloons.”  Yet  this  union  boasts  as  one  of  its  achievements 
the  fact  that  it  has  abolished  the  necessity  that  workmen  should 
obtain  the  recommendation  of  saloon-keepers  before  securing 
employment  in  a brewery.  This  demoralizing  necessity  is  said 
to  have  formerly  prevailed  among  all  workmen  in  this  business 
and  to  still  obtain  where  there  are  no  unions. 

Mr.  J.  A.  Cable,  secretary  of  the  Coopers  International  Union, 
writes  from  Kansas  City  : “ I have  opposed  the  evils  of  intoxi- 
cation by  endeavoring  to  attract  our  members  to  nobler  thoughts. 
. . . Our  meetings  are  an  education  to  each  other  from  the  fact 
that  different  questions  affecting  our  welfare  are  discussed  from 
different  points  of  view.” 

Mr.  George  Preston,  secretary  of  the  Machinists,  writes  from 
Chicago  : “ We  have  never  been  troubled  to  any  large  extent 
with  the  saloon  business.  An  organization  of  the  character  of 
ours  generally  finds  enough  to  interest  its  members  in  the  work 
of  organization,  which  consequently  takes  their  attention  from 
the  lesser  attraction  offered  by  the  saloons.  There  is  not  at  pre- 
sent to  my  knowledge  a single  branch  of  our  organization  that 
holds  its  meetings  connected  with  a saloon.  Of  course  there  may 
he  such  an  instance,  b^it  if  there  is  I am  ignorant  of  the  same. 
Where  lodge  halls  are  situated  over  saloons,  there  is  generally  an 
independent  passage  made  whereby  the  members  can  reach  the 
hall  without  having  to  enter  by  way  of  the  saloon.” 


312 


APPENDIX. 


Mr.  Jacob  Schmalz,  secretary  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Musicians,  writes  from  Cincinnati  : “We  have  not  had  one  mem- 
ber in  any  penal  institution  of  the  country,  not  one  in  the  work- 
house,  . . . not  one  in  the  poorhouse,  and  not  one  case  of  matri- 
monial scandal.  As  a general  rule  throughout  the  country  our 
branches  have  separate  halls  from  the  saloon,  and  the  tendency 
is  favorable  to  a separation,  for  the  reason  that  private  interests 
do  sometimes  interfere  with  that  of  the  union.” 

Mr.  Frank  Detlef,  secretary  of  the  Wood  Carvers  Associa- 
tion, writes  from  Brooklyn  that  about  one  half  of  the  branches 
of  his  association  meet  in  places  connected  with  the  saloon,  but 
adds  : “ It  seems  to  me  that  most  of  our  branches  would  meet  in 
places  where  there  is  no  saloon  if  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that 
very  high  rents  are  charged.” 

Very  suggestive  is  the  letter  of  Thomas  I.  Kidd,  secretary  of 
the  Amalgamated  Wood  Workers,  as  follows:  “Most  of  our 
active  workers  opposed  the  saloon  when  they  were  young  mem- 
bers of  the  organization,  but  experience  with  the  work  of  the 
union  was  responsible  for  a radical  change  in  their  views.  It  is 
difficult  to  secure  suitable  meeting-places  not  connected  with 
saloons  in  some  way.  Many  unions  meet  in  halls  in  the  rear  of 
saloons,  while  others  meet  over  saloons.  In  many  instances  no 
rent  is  charged.  There  has  never  been  any  attempt,  so  far  as  I 
know,  to  offset  the  social  influences  of  the  saloon.  This  institn- 
tion  is  looked  upon  by  the  vast  majority  of  workingmen  as  their 
club.  When  out  of  employment  the  workingman  can  get  a free 
lunch  and  meet  a congenial  soul  to  cheer  him  in  the  saloon  when 
there  is  nothing  but  discouragement  for  him  elsewhere.  Prob- 
ably seventy-five  per  cent  of  our  unions  meet  in  halls  in  the  rear 
of  or  over  saloons.” 

The  remaining  four  unions  of  Table  IV.,  the  Boot  and  Shoe 
Workers,  Hatters,  Glass  Cutters,  and  Flint  Glass  Workers, 
report  that  no  special  efforts  have  been  made  to  counteract  the 
saloon  influence,  although  the  three  first  named  report  scarcely 
any  branches  that  meet  in  halls  connected  with  saloons. 

We  have  thus  far  examined  45  unions,  with  a total  mem- 
bership of  531,804  outside  of  137,000  more  memhers  of  other 
branches  of  the  two  unions  whose  chief  membership  is  in  Great 


ATTITUDE  OF  TRADE  UNIONS. 


313 


Britain. 1 We  have  seen  that  almost  all  the  unions  have  taken 
some  steps  against  the  influences  of  the  saloon,  and  that  all  but 
one  of  the  unions  have  probably  indirectly  exerted  a great  influ- 
ence ill  ways  likely  in  the  long  run  to  make  their  members  more 
temperate  and  better  citizens.  Every  union  that  has  been  heard 
from  has  been  included.  The  reports  above  given  cover  nearly 
two  thirds  of  the  American  unions  having  a national  organization, 
and  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  membership  of  such  organiza- 
tions, so  that  the  data  may  be  taken  as  representative,  save  that 
the  unions  not  heard  from  are  probably  less  interested  in  the  sub- 
ject than  those  here  represented. 

All  who  are  interested  in  the  general  upbuilding  of  the  labor 
movement  will  surely  be  pleased  to  find  how  much  quiet  work 
fur  temperance  is  being  done  even  among  the  trade  unions,  which 
are  very  naturally  organized  for  and  chiefly  interested  in  strength- 
ening their  bargaining  power  with  their  employers.  It  has  long 
been  found  that  better  wages  and  fewer  hours  mean  better  food, 
more  education  for  children,  better  tenements,  better  compan- 
ionship, consequently,  for  the  children,  more  time  at  home  and 
more  interest  in  the  home  by  the  husband  and  father,  and  in 
every  way  less  temptation  to  patronize  the  only  place  of  recrea- 
tion and  sociability  open  to  most  of  the  very  poorly  paid  in  our 
large  cities. 

Edward  W.  Bemis. 

Bureau  of  Economic  Research, 

Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y. 

1 Since  these  data  were  secured  the  membership  of  most  of  these 
organizations  has  much  increased. 


n. 


BOYS’  CLUBS. 

The  first  Boys’  Club  in  America  was  started  in  1876,  with  the 
organization  of  the  club  still  occupying  rooms  at  125  St.  Mark’s 
Place,  New  York  City.  In  1883  the  Boys’  Free  Beading  Booms 
were  opened  in  the  same  city.  The  next  year  the  Bev.  John  C. 
Collins,  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  organized  a club  in  that  city. 
Through  his  influence  others  were  started  in  some  of  the  manu- 
facturing towns  of  New  England,  about  twenty  in  all.  Since  his 
plan  has  been  the  model  of  many  of  the  large  clubs,  particularly 
in  New  England,  it  is  important  in  this  paper  to  describe  its  sa- 
lient features.  Any  boy  in  the  city  could  be  admitted  to  the  club. 
The  paid  workers  were  the  doorkeeper,  the  librarian,  and  the 
superintendent.  During  the  club  session  the  superintendent  of 
necessity  walked  about  the  room  as  a moral  policeman.  Occa- 
sionally visitors  from  the  various  churches  came  to  assist,  by  play- 
ing games  with  the  boys.  Later  a few  industrial  classes,  such  as 
carpentry,  wood  carving,  cobbling,  typesetting,  etc.,  were  added. 
A Penny  Savings  Bank  was  the  leading  feature  of  this  sort  of 
club.  The  club  was  also  a field  for  religious  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  church  visitors  and  the  superintendent.  The  superintendent 
visited  the  Police  Comd,  often  taking  charge  of  boys  placed  on 
probation,  work  which  in  our  larger  cities  is  now  done  by  the 
officers  of  the  various  children’s  aid  societies.  The  equipment 
included,  among  other  things,  a piano,  books,  games,  and  a gen- 
erous supply  of  tables  and  benches.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that 
the  boys’  club  of  twenty  years  ago  was  a very  simple  affair.  It 
should  further  be  added  that  the  tvpe  of  club  to  which  it  belongs 
has  not  been  materially  modified.  This  plan  certainly  has  the 
virtue  of  being  clean-cut,  practical,  inexpensive,  and  business- 
like. Mr.  Collins  estimated  that  the  annual  expense  of  such  a 
club  would  be  about  82000.  It  has  not  been  difficult,  because  of 


BOYS’  CLUBS. 


315 


the  very  definiteness  of  such  a club,  with  the  programme  all 
prearranged,  to  secure  young  men  of  moral  earnestness  and 
business  push  as  superintendents.  Finally,  with  this  plan  it  is 
possible  to  have  an  exceedingly  large  membership.  This  in 
itself  is  a strong  featnre  in  the  minds  of  many. 

Of  all  the  clubs  patterned  after  Mr.  Collins’s  plan,  the  one  at 
Fall  River  has  been  perhaps  the  most  fortunate.  Three  years 
ago  a building  was  erected  at  a cost  of  ^85,000,  the  gift  of  a 
mill  owner.  It  contains  a reception-room,  a reading-room,  class- 
rooms, a theatre,  a small  gymnasium,  bowling-alleys,  shower 
baths,  and  a swimming-tank.  The  educational  work  includes 
classes  in  carpentry,  printing,  cobbling,  elocution,  and  parliamen- 
tary law.  The  principal  sources  of  amuseineut  for  the  club  are 
the  swimming-tank,  the  gymnasium  and  bowling-alleys,  the  game- 
room,  and  the  Saturday  night  entertainments.  The  house  is  open 
every  night,  and  on  Sunday  afternoon  for  choral  singing. 

The  Boys’  Club  of  125  St.  Mark’s  Place,  New  York  City,  is  not 
only  the  oldest,  but  is  also  the  largest  club  in  America,  having  an 
enrollment  of  over  five  thousand  boys.  It  has  therefore  influ- 
enced the  character  of  many  boys’  clubs  in  New  York  City.  By 
another  year  this  club  will  have  its  own  house.  It  will  be  five 
stories  high  and  elaborately  fitted  up.  Another  New  York  club, 
run  on  lines  somewhat  similar,  occupies  rooms  at  112-114  Uni- 
versity Place.  This  organization,  known  as  the  Boys’  Free  Read- 
ing Rooms,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Loyal  Legion  Temperance 
Society,  was  started,  to  use  the  language  of  the  society,  “ to 
provide  a counter-attraction  to  the  saloons  for  the  tempted  boys 
of  the  city.”  The  club  was  organized  in  1883.  It  has  500 
members.  New  members  are  selected  from  a waiting  list  pre- 
pared by  the  superintendent.  The  only  dues  are  “ Good  be- 
havior ; ” the  only  rule,  “ Be  a gentleman.”  St.  George’s  Church, 
New  York  City,  has  a very  well-conducted  boys’  club  of  several 
hundred  members.  The  club  is  composed  entirely  of  boys  from 
the  Sunday  school.  It  is  in  this  particular  a church  club.  There 
is  no  religious  instruction,  however,  in  the  club  itself.  The  boys 
have  a constitution,  in  part  originated  by  themselves.  Further- 
more, the  greater  part  of  the  discipline  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
boys.  At  eighteen  the  boys  are  eligible  for  the  St.  George’s 


316 


APPENDIX. 


Men’s  Club.  In  St.  Bartholomew’s  Parish  House,  New  York 
City,  there  is  a boys’  club  of  over  600,  composed  of  hoys  from 
eleven  to  eighteen  years  old.  Unlike  the  club  at  St.  George’s, 
boys  of  all  creeds  are  received.  The  club,  therefore,  while  sup- 
ported by  the  church,  is  b}'  no  means  a church  club.  There  is 
no  religious  instruction.  The  club-rooms,  containing  a wealth  of 
games  and  reading  matter,  are  in  charge  of  a superintendent  and 
two  assistants. 

The  foregoing  examples  are  fairly  characteristic  of  the  various 
types  of  large  clubs  and  tlieir  methods.  They  are  mostly  located 
in  New  York  City  and  the  manufacturing  towns  of  New  England. 
W ith  the  advent  of  the  university  settlement,  a new  plan  of  club 
came  into  being.  During  the  past  ten  years  these  settlements 
have  multiplied  very  rapidly.  Consequently,  largely  through  their 
influence,  the  inajority  of  boys’  clubs  throughout  the  country  are 
now  being  formed  on  what  may  be  termed  the  “ Settlement  Club 
Plan,”  or  on  some  modification  of  it.  It  difi^ers  from  the  old 
plan  radically  in  that  the  club  is  always  very  much  smaller.  The 
most  characteristic  plan  of  the  “ Settlement  Boys’  Club  ” is  this,  — 
a group  of  boys,  from  seven  to  ten  in  number,  usually  of  the  same 
gang,  therefore  of  about  the  same  age,  all  coming  from  the  imme- 
diate neighborhood.  Such  a group  usually  meets  once  a week  in 
charge  of  a leader.  Vacancies  are  filled  by  election,  as  it  is 
extremely  important  to  get  boys  together  who  are  congenial.  In 
form  the  group  club  is  thus  very  simple.  Its  very  simplicity, 
however,  gives  such  a club  a wide  range  of  possibility.  Games, 
in  starting  a club,  are  well  enough,  also  in  helping  to  piece  out 
an  evening  ; but  a really  successful  group  club  is  always  held 
together  by  some  serious  interest.  What  this  interest  shall  be 
does  not  really  matter.  A person  with  a loving  knowledge  of 
almost  any  subject  can  gain  the  interest  and  enthusiasm  of  a 
group  of  boys.  It  is  perfectly  certain,  for  instance,  that  a great 
deal  can  be  done  in  such  groups  with  a microscope,  provided  j-our 
scientific  leader  adds  to  his  knowledge  enthusiasm  and  a simple 
reverence  for  nature.  A great  many  groups  of  older  boys  have 
been  held  together  quite  easily  by  theatricals.  This  interest  has 
proved  especially  successful  at  Hull  House,  Chicago,  and  Den- 
nison House,  Boston.  Some  of  the  other  subjects  occupying 


BOYS’  CLUBS. 


317 


the  time  of  these  little  clubs  successfully  are  the  study  of  Amer- 
ican history  by  the  picture  method,  picture  pasting,  passe-par- 
tout work,  the  making  of  hammocks,  doll  furniture,  hemp  rope 
mats,  etc. 

The  group  club,  because  of  its  lack  of  machinery,  depends  for 
its  success  upon  the  personality  of  the  leader.  The  leader  of  such 
a group  must  be  intimate  but  not  familiar  with  his  boys  ; com- 
panionable and  sympathetic  but  never  condescending  ; just  and 
without  partiality,  even  in  little  things  ; firm  but  always  gentle. 
A group  of  boys  offers  a great  moral  opportunity  to  such  a person. 
If  the  leader  is  interested  alike  with  the  boys  in  what  is  being 
done,  there  is  just  that  lack  of  consciousness  which  brings  about 
the  most  natural  and  delightful  relationships.  It  is  work  done 
together,  enjoyed  together.  Consequently  there  is  a fellowship  of 
work.  The  leader  is  natural,  the  boys  are  natural,  and  the  little 
group  meeting,  therefore,  brings  all  the  charm  of  intimacy. 

After  a while  such  a leader  has  the  right  to  call  upon  the  boys, 
for  he  really  knows  them  and  likes  them,  and  they  feel  friendly 
toward  him.  He  does  not  go  as  a “ district  visitor  ; ” he  visits 
them  as  a friend.  He  is  received  as  a friend.  Occasionally  little 
excursions  are  planned  to  some  museum  or  interesting  factory,  or 
perhaps  an  outing  to  the  parks  or  country  on  a Saturday  after- 
noon or  a holiday.  Thus,  in  all  sorts  of  little  ways  the  leader 
gradually  gets  a firm  grip  upon  the  boys,  and  becomes  to  them 
both  friend  and  guide. 

The  whole  drift  of  boys’  clubs  lately  has  been  towards  smaller 
clubs.  The  legitimate  aim  of  the  large  club  is  to  keep  as  many 
boys  as  possible  off  the  street,  giving  them  a cheerful  room,  with 
books,  games,  etc.  The  aim  of  the  settlement  is  more  personal,  — 
to  form  a small  group,  and  through  a refined,  tactful  leader  “ with 
a social  soul,”  as  one  man  expressed  it,  moralize  these  boys  by  the 
power  of  friendship.  The  group  idea,  therefore,  marks  a distinct 
advance  in  the  boys’  club  movement. 

The  old  type  of  club  has,  however,  features  of  strength  which 
should  not  be  lost  in  the  new  plan.  The  esprit  de  corps  of  one 
hundred  boys,  for  instance,  is  different  from  the  esprit  de  corps 
of  ten.  A place  where  a lot  of  other  “ fellers  ” go  is  fascinating 
to  the  small  boy.  The  larger  club  is  naturally  richer  in  tradi- 


318 


APPENDIX. 


tions.  There  are  the  achievements  of  the  baseball  nine,  the 
orchestra  or  glee  club,  the  annual  picnic  or  excursion,  the  summer 
camp,  the  club  yell,  and  other  features  which  peculiarly  belong 
to  the  big  club,  all  making  for  tradition,  and  thus  having  a ten- 
dency to  hold  the  interest  of  boys  in  thrall.  Then  there  are  the 
various  lessons  of  cooperation  which  can  be  more  effectively 
taught  in  a large  club. 

A combination  of  the  big  club  and  group  club,  therefore,  seems 
the  wisest  form  of  organization.  As  a matter  of  fact,  some  of 
the  large  clubs  are  beginning  to  sub-divide  for  special  purposes  ; 
notably,  the  Boys’  Club  at  St.  Mark’s  Place,  already  mentioned. 
This  club  now  has  500  boys,  divided  into  small  sections,  each 
representing  separate  interests.  The  plan  for  the  enormous  Club 
House  which  they  are  constructing  includes  many  group  club- 
rooms.  On  tbe  other  hand,  many  settlements,  starting  g^oup 
after  group,  as  fit  leaders  are  found,  have  eventually  evolved 
some  scheme  of  confederation  : it  may  be  simply  to  bring  all  the 
boys  together  occasionally  for  games,  perhaps  preceded  by  a 
business  meeting  ; or  it  may  be  for  a monthly  entertainment. 

It  should  be  said  that  lying  midway  between  the  large  club  and 
the  group  club,  there  are  a great  many  examples  of  clubs  having 
a membership  of  fifty,  more  or  less,  connected  with  churches, 
settlements,  industrial  schools,  town  halls,  or  under  the  manage- 
ment of  volunteer  workers.  For  instance,  there  is  a club  of 
this  sort  at  the  Social  Union,  Cambridge.  Another  example  is 
tbe  Ellis  Memorial  Club,  Carver  Street,  Boston.  There  are  also 
two  at  East  Side  House,  New  York  City,  and  two  at  Goodrich 
House,  Cleveland.  These  are  only  a few  of  the  clubs  of  this 
type. 

The  natural  clientage  of  the  boys’  club  is  largely  made  up  of 
boys  living  in  the  poor  quarters  of  our  great  cities,  and  the  boys 
in  factory  towns,  boys  peculiarly  dependent  upon  some  such 
scheme  for  their  social  well-being.  The  group  club,  alone,  as 
some  critics  have  pointed  out,  meeting  once  a week,  does  not  offer 
a sufficiently  steady,  consistent  influence  in  the  lives  of  these 
boys.  In  providing  boys’  clubs,  some  place  should  be  furnished 
if  possible  for  the  tens  of  thousands  of  boys  who,  as  a matter  of 
fact,  spend  nearly  every  evening  outside  of  their  homes.  The  big 


BOYS’  CLUBS. 


319 


club  open  every  night,  with  reading  and  game  rooms,  does  in  a 
measure  meet  this  need.  But  the  settlements  go  a step  farther 
than  the  large  boys’  clubs,  pure  and  simple.  It  seems  hardly 
wise,  and  in  the  long  run  not  good  for  the  boy  himself,  to  organize 
with  him  alone  in  view.  The  father,  the  mother,  the  sister,  in 
short,  the  family,  should  be  taken  into  account.  Boys’  clubs  have 
frequently  been  criticised  as  weaning  boys  from  their  homes. 
This  principle  of  making  the  family  the  unit  of  organization  is 
growing  into  a fairly  clear  and  strong  conviction  in  the  social 
work  movement.  The  boy  has  a greater  interest  and  respect  for 
his  own  club  when  he  sees  a minstrel  show,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Young  Men’s  Club,  or  goes  to  the  theatricals  of  the  Young 
Women’s  Club,  or  when  he  learns  that  his  father  has  gone  to  a 
lecture  at  his  club,  or  that  his  brother  and  sister  have  gone  to  a 
dance  given  by  their  clubs.  His  own  club  seems  better,  and  he 
respects  it  more  because  he  feels  the  atmosphere  communicated 
by  all  these  other  functions  going  on  under  this  same  roof.  Tliis 
we  believe'  to  be  the  ideal  setting  for  a boys’  club. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  important  place  the  programme  occu- 
pies in  group  clubs.  The  occupation  of  boys  in  large  clubs  is  a 
matter  of  no  less  vital  concern.  The  club  run  merely,  “to  keep 
the  boys  off  the  street,”  a classic  phrase,  not  only  undervalnes 
its  opportunities,  but  invites  disaster  by  simply  importing  street 
conditions.  The  gymnasium,  with  its  competitive  drills  and 
indoor  meets,  its  basket  ball,  boxing,  fencing,  single  stick,  etc., 
the  theatricals,  orchestras,  glee  clubs,  choral  singing,  minstrel 
shows,  military  drills,  vaudeville  entertainments,  reading,  games, 
— all  these  and  other  features  have  proved  important  factors  to 
the  success  of  many  clubs. 

A large  interest  which,  in  the  estimation  of  the  writer,  is  a legit- 
imate field  of  boys’  club  effort  is  handicraft  work.  To  this  we 
wish  to  call  special  attention.  The  making  of  baskets,  hemp  rope 
mats,  hammocks,  fish  nets,  scroll  saw  work,  wood  carving,  and 
many  things  of  a handicraft  nature  have  been  taken  up,  with  more 
or  less  success,  in  numerous  group  clubs.  Industrial  classes  were 
planned  by  Mr.  Collins  for  his  club  twenty  years  ago.  Of  neces- 
sity they  were  crude.  The  writer  has  something  in  mind  a lon-g 
way  in  advance  of  all  this.  St.  George’s  School  and  the  Baron 


320 


APPENDIX. 


de  Hirsch  School,  New  York  City,  are  examples  showing  the 
possibilities  of  this  work.  At  St.  George’s  there  is  a first-rate 
system  of  hand  work  for  boys  of  different  ages.  The  spirit  of 
the  school  is  fine  : interesting  occupation  (always  the  most  effec- 
tive sort  of  discipline)  insures  order.  The  boys  are  no  different 
in  appearance  or  in  character  from  any  of  the  boys  found  in  the 
New  York  boys’  clubs.  Indeed,  they  are  excellent  types  of  what 
may  be  termed  the  “boys’  club  constituency.”  Furthermore  the 
splendid  fellowship  which  pervades  the  place  makes  it  little  dif- 
ferent, socially,  from  a boys’  club. 

At  Lincoln  House  there  is  an  ascending  scale  of  creative  work 
in  arts  and  crafts,  supplementing  the  gymnasium  and  the  social 
programme  of  the  clubs.  Next  year  this  house  hopes  to  have  a 
new  building  of  four  stories,  exclusively  for  this  work.  It  has 
been  found  quite  as  popular  here  as  the  gymnasium. 

The  boys  are  attracted  to  the  shops,  both  at  St.  George’s  and 
at  Lincoln  House,  not  only  because  of  their  interest  in  making 
things,  but  because  of  the  social  spirit  which  prevails.  Teachers 
have  been  carefully  selected  with  social  capacity,  as  well  as 
manual  skill,  tactful  in  trusting  boys  much,  wise  in  building  up  a 
“ shop  fellowship  ” and  pride  of  craft.  The  work  is  not  work,  but 
play.  No  finer  sight  can  meet  the  eye  than  these  boys  at  work. 
Their  energy  is  employed  in  making  things  ; they  are  happy. 
The  fine  glow  of  enthusiasm  from  free  creative  work  is  on  their 
faces.  A new  dignity  is  bred,  for  no  boy  can  make  things,  real 
to  him,  without  added  self-respect.  The  boys  are  allowed  to 
chatter  and  laugh  as  much  as  they  please,  so  long  as  they  keep  at 
work.  There  is  no  coercion.  Each  boy  is  there  because  he  wants 
to  be  there.  Each  boy  is  eager  to  show  his  work,  happy  when  it 
earns  praise,  — sufficient  evidence  of  its  reality  for  him,  of  its 
power  to  moidd  his  spirit.  There  is  another  important  fact  to 
remember  : the  boys  not  only  like  to  make  things,  but  they  like  to 
possess  them  when  made.  The  value  that  the  boys  place  upon 
these  things  is  a good  criterion  of  the  value  of  the  work  itself. 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON  IN  BOSTON.  321 


III. 


KEPORT  ON  SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON  IN  BOSTON. 


[This  report  indicates  the  sort  of  material  which  has  formed  the  basis 
of  the  preceding'  chapters.] 


In  this  report  under  “ substitutes  for  the  saloon  ” are  included, 
first,  whatever  agencies  are  meeting  one  or  more  of  the  needs 
and  desires  to  which  the  saloon  ministers,  except,  of  course,  the 
appetite  for  strong  drink;  and,  secondly,  by  a more  liberal  con- 
struction of  the  phrase,  such  agencies  as  operate  to  keep  men 
from  resorting  to  the  saloon  either  through  preventing  them  from 
acquiring  the  saloon  habit,  or  through  correcting  the  habit  after 
it  has  been  formed.  Therefore,  among  the  “ substitutes  for  the 
saloon  ” described  here  are  some  that  in  their  nature  are  rather 
deterrent,  counteractive,  preventive,  or  corrective  than  substitu- 
tionary in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word. 

In  this  report,  also,  “ substitutes  for  the  saloon  ” are  viewed  in 
their  relations  to  the  saloon  and,  when  possible,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  saloon.  For  this  reason  a few  words  in  regard 
to  the  saloons  in  Boston  seem  necessary  by  way  of  introduction. 

In  Boston,  as  in  other  cities,  the  saloons  fall  into  various  groups 
according  to  their  size,  equipment,  general  appearance,  and  the 
character  of  their  patronage.  _ 

A bar-room  of  the  lowest  grade  is  usually  small,  bare,  and  dingy, 
showing  .little  if  any  attempt  at  embellishment.  A full  view  of 
the  interior  may  be  had  from  the  street,  in  accordance  with  the 
police  regulation  forbidding  obstructions  of  any  sort  in  the  win- 
dows of  licensed  drinking-places.  The  floor  is  sprinkled  with 
sawdust,  which  is  allowed  to  become  quite  foul  before  it  is  re- 
newed. In  the  limited  space  outside  the  bar  there  is  no  furni- 
ture of  any  kind,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  a pile  of  casks 
in  one  corner.  A shelf  at  the  side  of  the  room  or  in  the  extreme 


i/' 


322 


APPENDIX. 


0^ 


iV 


end  coutains  a bowl  of  crackers;  for  every  saloon  is  required  by 
its  license  to  supply  food  with  drink  on  request.  In  some  drink- 
ing-places  of  this  class  the  dish  of  crackers  may  be  supplemented 
by  dishes  of  salt  fish  and  pickles,  or  even  a meat  stew  may  be 
served  free  occasionally.  On  the  wall  back  of  the  bar  a mirror 
in  a showy  frame  may  give  a touch  of  brightness  to  the  place; 
but,  as  a rule,  the  only  ornamentation  consists  in  the  orderly 
arrangements  of  bottles  on  the  shelves.  In  the  evening  the  room 
is  lighted  by  a number  of  flaring,  unshaded  gas  jets. 

Bar-rooms  of  this  general  type  are  to  be  found  chiefly  along 
the  water  front  in  the  vicinity  of  the  wharves,  and  in  the  meaner 
quarters  of  the  tenement  house  districts.  They  are  frequented, 
as  one  would  expect,  by  the  poorer  and  rougher  elements  of  the 
region  in  which  they  are  situated.  While  they  may  have  each  a 
tolerably  well-defined  constituency,  especially  when  established 
near  the  homes  of  the  working  people,  they  can  hardly  be  called 
meeting-places,  except  for  the  intimate,  friends  of  the  proprietor. 
The  lack  of  room  outside  the  bar,  together  with  the  absence  of 
seats,  forbids  much  loitering.  Indeed,  one  rarely  sees  in  them 
more  of  a gathering  than  a line  of  men  ranged  along  the  bar, 
each  with  a glass  of  beer  or  liquor  in  his  hand.  During  certain 
periods  of  the  day  these  places  are  practically  deserted. 

But  saloons  of  this  general  description,  which  are  little  more 
than  drinking-stands,  pure  and  simple,  are  less  numerous  than 
those  belonging  to  the  grade  next  higher.  These  constitute  the 
ordinary  bar-rooms  of  the  city,  and  are  distributed  through  every 
section  where  the  saloon  exists.  The  arrangement  behind  the  bar 
especially  is  often  quite  elaborate,  mirrors,  pictures,  and  rows  of 
bottles  containing  variously  colored  liquors  combining  in  a decora- 
tive effect.  A hot-water  apparatus  for  supplying  beef  tea,  simi- 
lar to  that  in  the  drug-stores,  frequently  occupies  a prominent 
place.  The  purpose  of  the  saloon  in  offering  this  drink  is  not, 
as  one  might  suppose,  to  compete  with  temperance  spas,  but  to 
enable  its  customers  to  gain  some  additional  nourishment  in  con- 
nection with  their  beer  drinking.  A laborer  dropping  in  on  his 
way  to  work  might  have  no  appetite  for  food,  and  yet  feel  the 
need  of  more  nourishment  than  beer  contains.  In  such  a case 
a cup  of  beef  tea  would  be  taken  along  with  his  glass  of  beer. 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON  IN  BOSTON.  323 


The  free  lunch  may  not  differ  essentially  from  that  in  the 
saloons  of  the  grade  below,  or  it  may  include  baked  beans  or 
steamed  clams;  but  in  either  case  it  is  served  usually  with  much 
greater  neatness. 

In  a few  saloons  of  this  class  one  or  two  tables  and  several 
seats  are  provided,  which  give  an  air  of  sociability  to  the  place. 
In  rare  instances,  where  the  room  is  large  enough,  a pool  table 
has  been  introduced  through  a special  police  concession. 

Patrons  of  the  saloons  of  this  general  character  come,  for  the 
most  part,  from  the  ranks  of  the  working  people.  The  man  with 
the  dinner  pail  is  a frequent  figure  among  them.  Many  of  the 
customers,  however,  especially  where  there  is  a pool  table,  repre- 
sent that  semi-criminal  class  who  have  no  regular  employment. 

A third  order  of  saloons  comprises  those  that  are  patterned 
more  or  less  after  the  German  model..  In  these  much  of  the 
floor  space  is  occupied  with  tables,  around  which  patrons  may  sit 
and  talk,  smoke,  eat  their  lunch,  and  perhaps  play  cards  or  other 
games,  as  well  as  drink.  The  free  lunch  is  supplemented  quite 
often  by  a lunch-counter,  where  sandwiches,  sausages,  cheese, 
and  cold  meats  are  sold  at  moderate  prices  ; or,  less  frequently, 
by  a kitchen  in  an  adjoining  room,  from  which  a regular  meal  may 
be  had.  In  two  or  three  of  them,  by  permission  of  the  police,  a 
piano  or  other  music  is  provided  as  an  additional  attraction. 

While  saloons  of  this  type  are  comparatively  common,  they  are 
not  so  numerous  as  those  devoted  exclusively  to  drink.  Their 
patronage,  on  the  other  hand,  is  somewhat  more  varied  than  that 
of  the  ordinary  bar-rooms,  men  resorting  to  them  for  food  as  well 
as  for  liquor. 

Another  kind  of  saloon  which  is  largely  represented  in  Boston, 
unlike  the  German  saloon,^is  practically  without  tables  and 
chairs,  but  differs  from  the  usual  drinking-place  in  the  richness 
of  its  decorations  and  furnishings.  Costly  mirrors  and,  perhaps, 
paintings  adorn  the  walls ; the  ceiling  is  studded  with  clusters  of 
electric  lights  ; and  the  floor  is  of  marble.  Drinking-places  of 
this  class  are  to  be  found  in  the  business  section  of  the  city  and 
along  some  of  the  more  important  thoroughfares,  especially  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  theatres.  They  are  frequented  by  the  well-to- 
do  and  prosperous  of  the  business  and  sporting  worlds,  and  in 


324 


APPENDIX. 


I 


the  character  of  their  patronage  rank  next  to  the  har-rooms  of 
the  leading  hotels.  In  these,  as  indeed  in  the  majority  of  places 
where  liquor  is  sold,  the  free  lunch  is  quite  insignificant. 

Of  the  truly  magnificent  saloon  there  are  hut  two  or  three 
examples  in  Boston.  One  of  these,  however,  is  of  so  extraordi- 
nary a nature  as  to  deserve  a special  word.  Overhead  is  a ced- 
ing of  deep  concave  runs  lined  with  puffed  blue  satin  and  sepa- 
rated one  from  the  other  by  narrow  panels  of  mirrors.  The  rail 
of  the  highly  polished  bar  is  a huge  glass  tube  filled  with  artificial 
flowers,  in  the  petals  of  which  gleam  tiny  electric  lights  of  differ- 
ent colors.  On  the  wall  back  of  the  free  lunch-counter,  which  is 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room  from  the  bar,  is  a country  land- 
scape, in  the  middle  foreground  of  which  real  water  flows  over 
a miniature  dam  and  turns  the  wheel  of  a rustic  mill.  A sunset 
effect  can  be  produced  over  the  scene  by  means  of  concealed 
electric  lights.  Across  one  end  of  the  room,  and  extending 
around  the  walls  of  a room  adjoining,  is  a series  of  stalls  separated 
from  one  another  by  plush  draperies  and  screens  of  brass  and 
crystal.  Each  stall  contains  a mahogany  table  and  several  deep- 
seated  armchairs.  A ^revolving  wheel  of  colored  electric  lights 
is  reflected  in  a great  mirror  opposite,  where  it  produces  a 
kaleidoscopic  effect. 

But  this  saloon  is  interesting  not  only  because  of  its  gorgeous- 
ness, but  as  the  only  bar-room  in  the  city  where  one  can  make  a 
satisfactory  meal  of  the  free  lunch.  Sandwiches,  olives,  pickles, 
baked  beans,  crackers,  cheese,  and  cakes,  of  excellent  quality  and 
neatly  served,  may  be  had  in  abundance  with  one’s  drink.  It 
should  be  said,  however,  that  the  price  of  a drink  here  is  greater 
than  in  most  bar-rooms  of  the  city  outside  the  hotels,  — a glass  of 
beer,  for  instance,  costing  ten  cents.  Moreover,  the  poor  man,  for 
whom  such  a free  lunch  would  have  an  especial  attraction,  would 
be  out  of  place  in  a saloon  of  this  character.  Indeed,  he  would 
not  be  made  welcome,  even  should  he  be  able  to  pay  for  a drink. 

As  to  the  social  and  recreative  opportunities  afforded  by  the 
saloon  in  Boston,  it  is  apparent  that  these  vary  with  the  character 
of  the  saloons  themselves  and  their  constituencies. 

In  saloons  of  the  lowest  grade,  as  has  been  seen,  the  social 
element  is  inconspicuous.  The  proprietors,  of  course,  are  on 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON  IN  BOSTON.  325 


friendly  terms  with  their  customers,  as  in  bar-rooms  of  every 
class;  but  loitering  is  not  encouraged,  partly  for  lack  of  room  and 
partly  for  prudential  reasons.  Idlers  would  increase  but  little 
the  financial  returns  and  might  cause  a disturbance  at  any  time. 
What  a saloon-keeper  most  fears  is  some  disorder  in  his  place  of 
business  that  would  attract  the  attention  of  the  police  and  lessen 
his  chance  of  a license  another  year. 

The  ordinary  bar-room  and  that  of  the  same  general  type  but 
more  richly  fitted  up  are  pervaded  by  more  or  less  of  a social 
atmosphere.  Patrons  are  permitted  to  linger  and,  in  the  few  in- 
stances where  a pool  table  is  provided,  are  expected  to  do  so. 
But  saloons  of  this  general  order  are  drinking-places  first  and 
last,  as  the  almost  universal  absence  of  seats  shows;  and  unless 
there  is  a pool  table,  customers  remain  but  little  longer  than  the 
time  necessary  for  consuming  their  beer  or  other  drink. 

The  only  saloons  that  afford  any  real  opportunity  for  fellowship 
are  those  of  the  German  type.  Here,  as  in  other  licensed  drink- 
ing-places, however,  occasional  patronage  of  the  bar  is  the  un- 
written law.  One  with  no  glass  or  an  empty  glass  before  him 
would  soon  be  made  to  feel  unwelcome.  But  for  the  price  of  a 
few  drinks  a man  may  pass  a comfortable  evening  in  company 
with  his  friends  and  acquaintances,  which  is  not  possible  in  any 
other  kind  of  saloon. 

. With  few  exceptions,  no  saloon  in  Boston  has  additional  rooms 
on  the  same  floor  or  on  the  floor  above  in  which  liquor  may  be 
served.  The  “ screen  law,”  by  requiring  that  the  windows  of 
every  licensed  drinking-place  shall  be  unobstructed,  would  take 
away  all  privacy  from  such  rooms  on  the  ground  floor.  The  ex- 
ceptions are  two  or  three  saloons  in  the  West  End  which  have 
upstairs  rooms  for  women,  it  being  forbidden  by  a police  rule  to 
sell  drinks  over  a bar  to  women.  So  far  as  can  be  learned,  no 
saloon  has  connecting  rooms  which  are  rented  to  clubs,  lodges,  or 
societies  of  any  kind.  The  various  labor  organizations  and  politi- 
cal clubs  all  meet  in  rooms  apart  from  bar-rooms. 

Few  of  the  Boston  saloons  make  any  special  provision  for  the 
amusement  of  patrons.  In  one  or  two,  as  has  been  said,  music 
is  provided  when  space  warrants  it;  in  several  a pool  table  has 
been  introduced;  and  a slot-machine  or  a “ticker  ” may  be  found 
here  and  there  among  others. 


326 


APPENDIX. 


The  bar  and  its  appurtenances  are  relied  on  mainly  by  a major- 
ity of  saloons  for  drawing  in  customers.  In  the  case  of  the  Ger- 
man saloons  the  lunch-counter  or  restaurant  reinforces  the  bar.  In 
no  bar-room  is  an  entertainment  possible  or  allowed.  The  police 
regulations  restricting  the  social  opportunity  of  the  saloon  re- 
strict at  the  same  time  its  recreative  opportunities,  and  for  the 
same  reason,  — to  preserve  order  and  quiet. 

The  increasing  exactions  of  employers  in  regard  to  the  char- 
acter of  their  workmen,  on  account  of  industrial  competition, 
have  taken  away  from  the  saloon  almost  completely  its  oppor- 
tunity for  securing  work  for  its  patrons.  Indeed,  the  recommen- 
dation of  a saloon-keeper  would  rather  lessen  than  increase  a 
man’s  chance  of  employment,  especially  in  those  industries  re- 
quiring a clear  head  and  steady  nerves.  Until  within  a few 
years  the  saloon-keepers  supplied  from  among  their  customers 
most  of  the  help  to  the  breweries  of  the  city,  but  now  the  brew- 
eries employ  only  union  men.  Thus  in  no  sense  can  the  saloons 
in  Boston  be  called  labor  exchanges. 

In  passing  in  review  the  “ substitutes  for  the  saloon  ” in  Bos- 
ton, one  naturally  begins  with  drinking  fountains,  stands  for  the 
sale  of  non-alcoholic  beverages,  and  temperance  spas;  for  these 
seem  to  compete  directly  with  the  saloon  on  its  own  special 
ground  of  meeting  the  demands  of  thirst.  It  should  be  borne  in 
mind,  however,  that  there  are  two  kmds  of  tliirst:  the  natur.al 
thirst,  which  may  be  satisfied  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  the  morbid 
craving  for  alcoholic  stimulant.  The  temperance  drinking-place 
and  the  saloon,  therefore,  are  rivals  only  on  the  ground  of  sup- 
plying the  natural  desire  for  drink;  at  the  point  where  the  saloon 
begins  to  minister  to  the  morbid  appetite  for  liquor,  the  rivalry 
between  the  two  ceases.  Nevertheless,  whatever  provides  an 
opportunity  for  quenching  thirst  outside  the  saloon  is  an  impor- 
tant temperance  agency. 

Thirty-two  drinking  fountains  are  maintained  at  public  expense 
during  the  summer.  These  are  placed  at  convenient  points 
throughout  the  city.  A year  ago  an  apparatus  for  chilling  the 
water  was  connected  with  each  fountain  and  operated  for  the 
entire  season.  This  apparatus  consists  of  an  underground  tank, 
through  which  the  pipes  joining  the  water  main  to  the  taps  are 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON  IN  BOSTON.  327 


passed  in  many  coils.  When  ice  is  packed  in  about  the  pipes,  the 
temperature  of  the  water  flowing  through  them  is  reduced  by 
many  degrees.  Probably  nothing  that  Boston  has  done  for  the 
people  has  given  so  much  comfort  and  satisfaction,  for  the  expense 
involved,  as  this  offering  of  “ a cup  of  cold  water.” 

Unfortunately,  however,  the  city  government  which  came  in 
at  the  beginning  of  last  year  has  made  no  appropriation  for  sup- 
plying ice  to  the  tanks,  with  the  exception  of  one  hundred  dollars 
to  be  used  in  this  way  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  Thus  a drink  of 
cold  water  has  been  placed  in  the  same  category  of  municipal 
luxuries  with  fireworks  ! 

In  addition  to  the  city  drinking  fountains,  several  ice  water 
fountains  are  maintained  by  private  philanthropic  enterprise  at 
points  where  great  crowds  congregate  or  pass. 

The  places  where  non-alcoholic  drinks  are  on  sale  are  almost 
innumerable  and  of  all  possible  descriptions.  Every  drug-store 
has  its  soda  fountain,  from  which  a variety  of  cooling  drinks  are 
dispensed  in  the  summer  time.  Most  drug-stores  are  supplied 
also  with  an  apparatus  for  serving  hot  chocolate  and  beef  tea 
when  the  weather  is  cold.  With  few  exceptions  the  candy  and 
fruit  stores,  of  every  grade  down  to  even  the  sidewalk  booths, 
include  among  their  furnishings  a soda  fountain,  or  at  the  very 
least  a “ cooler  ” for  bottled  ginger  ale,  birch  beer,  and  “ tonic.” 
A number  of  out  of  door  stands  for  the  sale  of  lemonade  and 
temperance  beverages  are  erected  each  summer  in  the  business 
portions  of  the  city.  Two  temperance  spas  on  Washington  Street 
rival  in  their  appointments  the  most  elegant  of  the  bar-rooms  in 
the  city.  Great  fountains  of  marble,  with  rows  of  silver  taps, 
and  surmounted  by  mirrors,  tower  up  behind  the  long  marble- 
topped  counters  or  bars;  the  walls  and  ceiling  are  richly  deco- 
rated, and  the  floors  are  of  marble.  An  almost  endless  variety 
of  refreshing  and  delightful  drinks,  hot  and  cold,  is  offered  to 
the  thirsty.  The  bars,  however,  divide  the  enormous  patronage 
of  these  places  with  the  extensive  and  well-furnished  lunch-coun- 
ters, which  occupy  the  greater  part  of  the  place. 

The  prices  of  the  ordinary  “ soft  drinks  ” are  surprisingly  uni- 
form throughout  the  city.  A glass  of  soda  water,  for  instance, 
is  five  cents  nearly  everywhere.  In  a few  of  the  candy  and  fruit 


328 


APPENDIX. 


stores  in  the  poorest  parts  of  the  city  it  may  be  had  for  three 
cents,  or  even  two  cents.  Ice  cream  soda  varies  in  price  from 
fifteen  cents  to  five  cents.  Last  year  the  Salvation  Army  made 
the  experiment  of  selling  lemonade  at  a minimum  price  of  one 
cent  a glass,  the  purchaser  being  allowed  to  pay  whatever  he 
wished  over  and  above  this.  It  was  found  that  while  the  demand 
was  very  great,  the  receipts,  had  each  purchaser  paid  only  the 
regular  charge,  would  have  fallen  short  of  the  expenditures.  In 
other  words,  good  lemonade  could  not  be  furnished  profitably  at 
so  small  a price. 

Next  in  point  of  apparently  direct  rivalry  with  the  saloon  are 
the  lunch-rooms  and  restaurants  where  one  may  obtain  food  with- 
out coming  in  contact  with  liquor  selling.  The  direct  competition 
of  these  places  with  the  saloon,  however,  is  even  more  restricted 
than  that  of  the  drinking  fountains  and  temperance  spas  of  various 
kinds.  Although  all  bar-rooms  provide  a free  lunch,  their  purpose 
in  this,  aside  from  compliance  with  the  terms  of  their  license  that 
food  shall  be  served  with  liquor  on  request,  is  not  to  compete  with 
■ temperance  eating-places,  but  to  enable  customers  to  drink  the 
more,  it  being  a well-known  physiological  fact  that  one  can  con- 
sume a larger  amount  of  liquor  in  a given  time  if  he  accompanies 
I his  drinking  with  eating.  Moreover,  the  free  lunch  itself  is  com- 
posed, as  a rule,  of  such  articles  of  food  as  especially  induce  thirst, 
and  with  few  exceptions  is  of  the  simplest  description  ; often 
consists  merely  of  a bowl  of  crackers  or  pop-corn.  Where  very 
much  more  than  this  is  demanded  a lunch-counter  from  which 
food  is  sold  has  been  introduced,  or  a fuUy  equipped  restaurant 
is  carried  on  in  connection  with  the  bar.  It  is  with  these  lunch- 
counter  and  restaurant  saloons,  which  are  comparatively  few  in 
number,  that  temperance  eating-places  are  competing  directly. 
And  yet  what  was  said  of  the  non-alcoholic  drinking-stands  may 
be  said,  in  substance,  of  the  temperance  lunch-rooms  and  res- 
taurants. In  keeping  men  in  search  of  food  from  going  where 
liquor  is  sold,  they  are  serving  as  “ substitutes  for  the  saloon.” 

Temperance  eating-places  are  almost  as  numerous  and  varied 
as  temperance  drinking-places.  Indeed,  many  of  the  candy  and 
fruit  stores  of  the  lower  grades,  which  sell  soda  and  tonic,  make 
a pretense  of  serving  food,  especially  on  Sundays.  This  is  done. 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON  IN  BOSTON.  329 


mainly,  however,  to  come  within  the  law  permitting  Sunday  open- 
ing, very  little  if  any  food  being  sold. 

Small  and  low-priced  lunch-rooms  abound  in  all  parts  of  the 
city,  excepting,  of  course,  the  more  prosperous  residential  sections. 
In  any  of  these  eating-places  a sandwich  or  a piece  of  pie  or  three 
good-sized  doughnuts  may  be  had  for  five  cents.  Coffee  and  milk 
are  five  cents  a cup  or  glass.  A plate  of  beans  or  a small  meat  pie 
costs  ten  cents.  Still  lower  prices  obtain  in  the  cheap  restaurants, 
which  are  to  be  found  along  some  of  the  main  thoroughfares  and 
in  the  poorer  lodging-house  districts.  In  these  a “ combination  ” 
breakfast  or  supper  may  be  had  for  fifteen  or  even  ten  cents;  a 
“ seven-course  dinner  ” for  twenty-five  cents.  Special  dishes  also 
are  offered  at  correspondingly  low  prices  : a boiled  dinner  for 
ten  cents;  three  eggs  with  bread,  tea  or  coffee,  ten  cents;  pudding, 
five  cents.  One  of  the  largest  and  most  successful  of  these  low- 
priced  establishments  is  carried  on  in  connection  with  a mission 
at  the  West  End.  The  room  itself,  which  is  below  the  line  of  the 
sidewalk,  is  bare  and  dingy.  There  is  no  attempt  at  decoration 
save  a few  scriptural  mottoes  on  the  walls.  The  fioor  is  thickly 
covered  with  sawdust,  and  the  deal  tables  are  without  cloths. 
Cleanliness,  however,  is  noticeable  in  the  preparation  and  serving 
of  the  food.  Here  the  charges  are  absurdly  small  when  the  size 
and  quality  of  the  “ orders  ” is  taken  into  account.  A large  dish  of 
oatmeal  and  milk  costs  five  cents ; a pint  bowl  of  coffee  with  bread 
and  perhaps  a doughnut,  five  cents;  a boiled  dinner,  including 
bread,  coffee,  and  pudding,  ten  cents.  As  many  as  eighteen  hun- 
dred men  have  been  fed  here  in  the  course  of  a single  day.  Low 
as  the  prices  are,  the  place  is  self-supporting  and  provides,  in 
addition,  the  funds  for  carrying  on  the  mission,  including  the 
rent  of  the  rooms  and  the  salary  of  the  superintendent. 

The  bread,  cake,  and  pastry  served  in  these  cheap  lunch-rooms 
and  restaurants  are  uniformly  of  a good  quality,  coming  from 
great  central  bakeries.  Careful  milk  inspection  keeps  the  milk 
sold  in  any  part  of  Boston  well  up  to  legal  requirement.  If  oleo- 
margarine is  used,  it  has  been  purchased  outside  the  State,  its 
sale  within  the  borders  of  Massachusetts  being  forbidden  by  law. 
In  the  mission  lunch-room  described  the  bread  and  cake  are  the 
slightly  stale  product  of  one  of  the  best  bakeries  of  the  city;  and 


330 


APPENDIX. 


the  coffee  is  what  has  been  left  over  in  the  various  coffee-houses 
conducted  or  supplied  by  the  Oriental  Coffee  Co. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  temperance  eating-places  are  re- 
garded as  rivals  by  the  saloons  with  the  possible  exception  of 
those  carrying  on  a lunch-counter  or  restaurant.  The  saloons 
compete  with  one  another  to  some  extent  on  the  basis  of  the  free 
lunch,  but  evidence  is  wanting  to  show  that  they,  as  a rule, 
are  trying  to  compete  with  the  temperance  agencies  for  supply- 
ing food.  Indeed;  it  seems  to  be  true  that  the  saloons  understand 
too  well  their  own  distinct  field  — that  of  meeting  the  demand  for 
alcoholic  stimulant  — to  fear  seriously  the  encroachment  upon  it 
of  the  temperance  lunch-room  and  restaurant. 

None  of  the  temperance  eating  and  drinking  places  afford  the 
^ social  and  recreative  privileges  of  many  of  the  saloons.  The  reasons 
of  this  are  not  far  to  seek.  Hunger  and  natural  thirst  are  soon 
satisfied,  while  the  morbid  desire  for  spirituous  liquors  increases 
with  indulgence.  Therefore,  the  proprietor  of  a soda  fountain  or 
a lunch-room,  unlike  the  saloon-keeper,  would  have  nothing  to 
gain  by  inducing  his  customers  to  remain.  Then,  too,  soda  water 
and  ginger  ale  lack  that  stimulating  quality  of  alcoholic  beverages 
which  promotes  the  feeling  of  sociability  and  good  fellowship. 
As  a result,  one  does  not  care  to  linger  long  after  he  has  finished 
his  “ soft  ” drink  or  eaten  his  food.  Indeed,  to  sit  around  a table 
in  the  ordinary  lunch-room  or  restaurant  for  an  entire  evening 
would  give  neither  excitement  nor  pleasure. 

Other  agencies  that  in  some  way  are  offsets  to  the  saloon  are 
free  reading-rooms,  coffee-rooms,  boys’  and  men’s  clubs,  the  pub- 
lic library,  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association,  the  Boston 
Young  Men’s  Christian  Union,  and  the  two  great  workingmen’s 
organizations,  — the  Wells  Memorial  and  the  People’s  Institute. 

A number  of  free  reading-rooms  have  been  opened  in  church 
buildings  and  mission  rooms.  Although  well  situated  and  quite 
attractive,  they  draw  in  but  few  outside  the  church  or  mission  con- 
stituencies. A certain  large  mission  reading-room  in  the  midst  of  a 
saloon  district  is  often  without  other  occupant  than  the  attendant. 
On  the  other  hand  a detached  reading-room  on  Hanover  Street, 
the  main  thoroughfare  between  the  centre  of  the  city  and  East 
Boston,  and  lined  with  saloons,  is  filled  afternoon  and  evening 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON  IN  BOSTON.  331 


with  readers  of  the  sailor  and  laboring  classes.  Like  the  church 
and  mission  reading-rooms  this  is  supported  from  private  sources. 

A reading  and  recreation  room  is  maintained  by  one  of  the 
social  settlements  in  a tenement  house  neighborhood  thickly 
dotted  with  saloons.  Here  games  as  well  as  papers  and  maga- 
zines are  provided,  and  the  men  are  permitted  to  smoke  and  keep 
on  their  hats.  About  fifty  men,  all  of  whom  are  saloon  patrons, 
resort  regularly  to  this  place,  while  the  total  number  of  visitors  is 
much  larger. 

Besides  the  reading-rooms  privately  supported  and  controlled, 
there  are  the  spacious  newspaper,  periodical,  and  general  reading- 
rooms  of  the  Boston  Public  Library,  which  are  frequented  by  great 
numbers  of  men,  women,  and  children.  Sixteen  of  the  twenty- 
eight  outposts  of  the  Library  have  reading-rooms  connected  with 
them,  scattered  throughout  the  city. 

Four  so-called  “ coffee-rooms  ” are  conducted  by  the  Church 
Temperance  Society,  one  at  Roxbury  Crossing,  one  on  North- 
ampton Street,  and  two  in  South  Boston.  They  were  started 
and  are  still  carried  on  in  avowed  rivalry  with  the  saloon. 
Originally,  coffee  could  be  had  in  them,  but  so  small  was  the 
demand  for  it  that  its  sale  was  finally  discontinued.  At  the 
present  time  the  rooms  are  merely  attractive  gathering-places, 
free  to  all,  where  smoking  is  permitted  and  lectures  and  enter- 
tainments are  given  at  frequent  intervals.  During  the  summer 
months  they  are  closed. 

Boys’  and  youths  or  men’s  clubs  are  connected  with  each  of  the 
six  social  settlements  in  the  city.  There  are  also  numerous  un- 
attached clubs  which  are  more  or  less  self-managing.  These 
independent  organizations  are  especially  common  among  the 
Jews  at  the  North  End.  All  of  them  are  preventive  or  deter- 
rent agencies  as  regards  the  saloon,  keeping  their  members  from 
forming  the  saloon  habit  or  furnishing  those  with  whom  it  has 
become  established  with  interests  rivaling  those  of  the  bar-room. 
It  should  be  said  in  this  connection,  however,  that  the  Jews,  as  a 
race,  have  but  little  to  do  with  the  saloons.  Although  moderate 
drinking  is  quite  common  among  them,  it  is  carried  on,  for  the 
most  part,  in  the  club  or  home.  Until  within  a few  years  no  Jew 
participated,  at  least  directly,  in  the  saloon  business.  At  the 


332 


APPENDIX. 


present  time  there  are  several  Jewish  saloon-keepers  in  the  city. 
One  of  these  has  two  bar-rooms  near  together,  one  under  his  Ger- 
man name  and  one  under  its  English  equivalent,  and  employs 
Irish  bartenders  to  cater  to  the  Irish  trade  and  Scandinavians 
to  draw  in  that  of  their  countrymen.  At  Christmas  time  he 
decorates  both  places  in  a manner  appropriate  to  the  season. 

A detailed  description  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associa- 
tion is  unnecessary,  as  the  objects  and  methods  of  the  organiza^ 
tion  are  so  well  known.  The  membership  fee  is  two  dollars  a 
year,  and  entitles  the  holder  to  enter  the  evening  classes,  admits 
him  and  one  friend  to  the  course  of  twelve  entertainments,  and 
offers  him  the  privilege  of  the  library,  reading-room,  recreation- 
room,  parlors,  religious  meetings,  lectures,  members’  monthly 
meetings,  trade  discounts,  and  a summer  camp.  Ten  dollars 
extra  a year  admits  him  to  the  gymnasium.  The  age  qualifica- 
tion is  fifteen  years,  and  there  is  no  religious  test  of  membership. 
The  rooms  are  open  from  eight  in  the  morning  until  ten  at  night, 
including  Sundays,  excepting  morning  church  hours.  The  total 
membership  is  about  3500.  There  is  a branch  of  the  Association 
in  Charlestown  with  a membership  of  between  300  and  400. 

The  Boston  Young  Men’s  Christian  Union  is  similar  in  aims 
and  methods  to  the  Association.  The  fees,  however,  are  some- 
what less,  membership  costing  one  dollar  a year  instead  of  two, 
and  the  additional  charge  for  the  use  of  the  gymnasium  after 
seven  o’clock  in  the  evening  being  four  dollars  and,  at  all  times, 
seven  dollars,  instead  of  uniformly  ten  dollars.  The  building 
also  is  more  centrally  located,  in  the  business  portion  of  the  city  ; 
and  the  membership  is  of  a more  widely  representative  character. 
The  total  number  of  members  is  about  5500. 

Wells  ^Memorial  Institute  carries  on  a work  essentially  similar 
to  that  of  the  Association  and  the  Union,  with  the  exception  that 
it  has  no  distinctively  religious  aim.  Its  rates,  moreover,  are 
cheaper  and  its  membership  is  composed  wholly  of  laboring  peo- 
ple. Its  avowed  purpose  is  “ to  furnish  workingmen  the  means 
of  social  intercourse,  mutual  helpfulness,  mental  and  moral  im- 
provement, and  rational  recreation.”  Membership  privileges  are 
now  extended  to  women.  The  normal  membership  is  2000.  The 
building  itself,  situated  in  the  South  End,  is  equipped  with  read- 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON  IN  BOSTON.  33^ 

ing,  recreation,  and  class-rooms,  lecture  halls,  library,  bowling- 
alley,  baths,  and  restaurant. 

By  the  payment  of  one  dollar  a year  any  man  or  woman  with 
a trade  or  occupation  may  enjoy  all  the  privileges  of  the  Institute, 
with  the  exception  of  some  of  the  educational  and  industrial 
classes,  for  which  a small  additional  fee  is  charged.  A Medical 
Aid  Association  and  a Benefit  Society,  the  latter  for  assisting  its 
members  financially  when  ill,  are  among  the  special  organizations 
connected  with  the  Institute. 

The  People’s  Institute  in  Roxbury  is  under  the  same  manage- 
ment as  the  Wells  Memorial  and  aims,  therefore,  to  furnish  social 
advantages  and  intellectual  opportunities  for  the  thrifty  class  of 
working  people.  With  a similar  outfit  to  the  parent  institution 
it  offers  many  of  the  same  privileges.  The  number  of  members 
is  about  1250,  of  which  more  than  400  are  women. 

A system  of  extensive  and  beautiful  parks  lies  within  and  about 
the  city.  Unfortunately,  however,  the  nearest  of  these  parks  is 
far  beyond  walking  distance  from  the  homes  of  great  masses 
of  the  people.  Although  ten  cents,  the  price  of  a round  trip  by 
trolley  car,  is  not  a large  sum  in  itself,  it  cannot  easily  be  spared 
by  those  whose  income  often  fails  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the 
barest  sort  of  existence.  But  charity  often  provides  the  car  fares 
necessary  to  enable  the  very  poor  to  escape  for  a little  while 
from  the  close  and  crowded  neighborhoods  in  which  they  live 
to  the  fields  and  woods  a few  miles  away  ; and  each  summer 
the  Elevated  Railway  issues  a great  number  of  free  tickets  for 
the  same  purpose.  The  bicycle  has  solved  the  difficulty  for  those 
above  the  grade  of  the  very  poor  ; and  every  pleasant  summer 
evening  thousands  of  young  men  and  women  resort  to  the  parks 
for  recreation  and  pleasure. 

Two  large  parks  are  privately  controlled  and  have  been  fitted 
up  as  business  enterprises  in  connection  with  car  lines  running 
out  of  the  city.  Here  no  liquor  is  sold,  and  a great  variety  of 
excellent  out  of  door  attractions  is  offered  at  trifling  expense  to 
the  seekers  of  amusement. 

As  long  ago  as  1866  the  sum  of  $10,000  was  appropriated  by 
Boston  for  “ suitable  places  in  South  and  East  Boston  and  the 
city  proper  for  salt-water  bathing  during  the  ensuing  summer 


334 


APPENDIX. 


months.”  Six  localities  were  selected  — five  for  floating-baths 
and  one  for  a beach  bath.  At  the  present  time  the  system  of 
out  of  door  baths  comprises  five  beach  baths,  twelve  floating- 
baths,  two  river  baths,  and  two  swimming-pools.  These  are  so 
distributed  that  no  considerable  quarter  of  the  city  is  without  its 
local  bathing  establishment.  Some  of  them,  because  of  their  situ- 
ation or  the  conveniences  that  they  afford,  have  a patronage  from 
far  beyond  their  immediate  neighborhood.  The  L Street  bath  in 
South  Boston,  for  instance,  situated  as  it  is  on  a beautiful  natural 
beach,  and  easily  reached  by  electric  cars  from  all  sections  of 
the  city  and  suburbs,  draws  from  every  part  of  Greater  Boston. 
This  seaside  bath  was  the  first  municipal  bath  opened  in  the 
United  States.  A long,  low  frame  structure  provides  a great  num- 
ber of  dressing-rooms,  and  an  adjoining  building  is  fitted  up  with 
hundreds  of  lockers  for  the  use  of  boys.  These  buildings, together 
with  a high  board  fence  at  each  end,  extending  well  out  into  the 
water,  effectually  shut  in  the  bath  from  all  outside  observation. 

Next  in  point  of  popularity  to  the  L Street  bath  is  the  bath 
at  the  North  End  Park.  A flat- roofed,  solidly  constructed  build- 
ing running  along  the  westerly  side  of  the  park  contains  the 
dressing  quarter  for  men  and  boys.  On  the  easterly  side  of  the 
park  is  a bath-house  for  women  and  girls,  so  that  bathing  in  the 
open  water  is  permitted  to  both  sexes  at  the  same  time.  Five 
thousand  bathers  in  a single  day  is  not  an  uncommon  number  at 
this  bath  ; while  at  the  L Street  bath  the  daily  attendance  has 
occasionally  reached  15,000.  The  total  number  of  visitors  at  all 
the  out  of  door  baths  during  the  season  of  1898  was  1,900,000 
and  of  1899,  2,003,000. 

Besides  the  summer  baths  there  is  an  all  the  year  round  bath 
on  Dover  Street,  and  combined  baths  and  gymnasiums  in  East 
Boston,  South  Boston,  the  South  End,  Roxbury  Crossing,  and 
at  the  Charlesbank  at  the  West  End,  — the  latter  under  the 
charge  of  the  Metropolitan  Park  Commission.  The  Dover  Street 
bath  is  a simple  but  imposing  structure,  43  x 110  feet,  three 
stories  in  height,  and  constructed  of  granite  and  brick.  The 
bathing  apartments  are  on  the  second  floor.  The  apartment  for 
women  is  completely  shut  off  from  that  for  men,  and  has  its  own 
waiting-room  and  street  entrance  on  the  floor  below.  There  are 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON  IN  BOSTON.  335 


thirty  sprays  and  three  tubs  for  men  and  eleven  sprays  and  six 
tubs  for  women.  Although  but  one  cent  is  charged  for  a towel 
and  one  cent  for  a piece  of  soap,  and  bathers  are  allowed  to  bring 
their  own  supplies,  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  have  been 
received  for  these  articles  in  a single  week.  This  indicates  the 
extent  to  which  the  bath  is  patronized.  In  fact  nearly  300,000 
men,  women,  and  children  use  this  hath  each  year. 

The  exercise  hall  of  the  gymnasium  and  bath  in  East  Boston  is 
one  hundred  feet  long  and  eighty  feet  wide,  and  is  well  supplied 
with  gymnastic  apparatus.  One  corner  may  be  shut  off  by  mov- 
able partitions  for  hand-ball.  In  the  bathing  department  there 
are  eleven  sprays  with  dressing-quarters  and  lockers.  Two  days 
a week  the  entire  building  is  reserved  for  women  and  girls. 

Adjoining  the  South  Boston  gymnasium  and  bath  is  an  area  of 
cleared  land,  under  the  control  of  the  city,  which  in  time  will  be 
laid  out  in  separate  athletic  fields  for  men  and  women.  The 
building  itself  is  of  wood,  in  the  English  Gothic  style  of  architec- 
ture. Here  there  are  1200  lockers  and  eighteen  spray  baths. 
A swimming-tank  under  a separate  roof  is  a part  of  the  original 
plan  and  will  be  added  sooner  or  later. 

The  gymnasium  and  bath  at  the  South  End  was  originally 
a mission  chapel,  and  that  at  Roxbury  Crossing  is  still  used  as 
a ward  room.  Both  have  been  fitted  up  and  opened  to  the  pub- 
lic within  the  year. 

None  of  the  agencies  described  are  doing  more  to  counteract 
and  lessen  the  influence  of  the  saloon  than  these  baths  and  gym- 
nasiums. Aside  from  what  they  are  doing  to  promote  public 
health,  which  of  itself  would  constitute  them  “ substitutes  for  the 
saloon  ” in  the  free  interpretation  of  the  phrase,  they  provide  a 
variety  of  social  and  recreative  opportunities  to  the  very  class 
most  susceptible  to  the  enticements  of  the  saloon,  and  furnish  a 
new  and  powerful  motive  not  only  to  moderate  instead  of  exces- 
sive drinking,  but  to  total  abstinence;  for  even  an  occasional 
glass  of  liquor  interferes  with  gymnastic  training.  Instances  are 
numerous  where  a man  in  his  desire  to  excel  in  some  line  of  ath- 
letics has  given  up  all  drinking,  for  a time  at  least. 

Statistical  evidence  as  to  the  effect  of  public  baths  and  gymna- 
siums upon  the  saloon  is  not  to  be  had;  but  the  evidence  of  obser- 


336 


APPENDIX. 


vation  is  not  wanting.  The  police  of  East  Boston,  for  instance, 
say  that  since  the  opening  of  the  gymnasium  in  that  division 
there  has  been  a marked  diminution  in  lawlessness.  Instead  of 
collecting  at  street  corners  and  annoying  passers-by,  the  young 
men  in  large  numbers  resort  to  the  gymnasium  and  the  baths. 
Moreover,  their  minds  are  diverted  from  plotting  mischief  and 
are  turned  to  new  and  better  channels. 

And  yet  the  saloon-keepers  seem  to  be  quite  indifEerent  to  the 
possible  inroads  upon  their  business  of  these  agencies.  As  a mat- 
ter of  fact,  the  proprietor  of  two  saloons  was  largely  instrumen- 
tal in  securing  the  gymnasium  for  South  Boston,  and  is  stiU  its 
stanch  supporter.  This  is  but  another  illustration,  however,  of 
what  has  already  been  said  as  to  the  indifference  of  the  saloon  to 
all  so-called  “substitutes.”  The  morbid  appetite  for  liquor  the 
saloon  can  depend  upon,  and  so  long  as  it. is  allowed  to  minister 
to  that,  it  does  not  concern  itself  seriously  about  deterrent,  coun- 
teractive, or  corrective  agencies. 

Temperance  societies  of  all  kinds  are  to  be  found  in  the  city,  and 
should  be  numbered  among  the  preventive  and  corrective  substi- 
tutes for  the  saloon.  The  order  of  Good  Templars  is  represented 
here  by  nineteen  lodges,  and  that  of  the  Sous  of  Temperance 
by  five  Division  Meetings.  Other  organizations  are  the  New 
England  Department  of  the  Church  Temperance  Society,  with 
branches  in  many  Episcopal  churches;  and  the  Unitarian  Tem- 
perance Society,  which  has  branches  in  churches  and  Sunday 
schools  of  that  denomination.  Both  of  the  last-named  societies 
aim  to  discover  and  remove  the  cause  of  intemperance,  as  well 
as  to  reform  the  intemperate.  There  is  also  a Catholic  Total 
Abstinence  Union  comprising  fourteen  societies.  Most  of  them 
are  joined  directly  to  some  church  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith 
and  constitute  a part  of  its  organization.  Two  or  three  are 
branches  of  the  Father  Mathew  Total  Abstinence  Society. 
Reform  clubs  are  numerous,  some  of  which  are  connected  with 
Protestant  churches  and  missions  or  have  an  independent  ex- 
istence. An  important  children’s  organization,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  is  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion,  whose 
members  pledge  themselves  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  alcoholic, 
drinks  and  tobacco,  and  from  profanity.  Companies  of  the  I..egio:i 
meet  in  churches  and  homes. 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  THE  SALOON  IN  BOSTON.  337 


The  most  directly  aggressive  temperance  work  is  carried  on  by 
the  rescue  missions  and  the  Salvation  Army.  Whatever  may  be 
thought  as  to  the  methods  of  these  agencies,  the  correctness  of  the 
principles  upon  which  they  proceed  must  be  conceded.  To  recover 
from  deep-seated  liabits  of  intemperance,  a man  must  undergo 
a change  so  radical  that  it  can  be  likened  only  to  a “ change 
of  heart.”  “ Conversion  ” is  the  most  exact  term  for  expressing 
pliilosophically  as  well  as  religiously  the  process  by  which  a 
confirmed  drunkard  regains  self-control  and  a new  manhood. 

But  while  the  rescue  missions  and  the  Salvation  Army  are  act- 
ing on  the  right  hypothesis,  they  fail  of  such  results  as  this 
might  lead  one  to  expect.  Indeed,  their  efforts  are  more  or  less 
ineffective,  at  least  in  the  long  run,  excepting  in  an  isolated  case 
here  and  there. 

A review  of  the  substitutes  for  the  saloon  in  Boston  brings  out 
with  more  or  less  clearness  the  secret  of  the  saloon’s  power.  This 
does  not  consist,  as  a superficial  observer  might  suppose,  in  the 
social  and  recreative  opportunities  of  the  saloon;  for,  as  has 
been  seen,  many  saloons  are  lacking  in  such  opportunities.  In- 
deed, some  saloons  are  almost  devoid  of  them.  On  the  other 
hand,  many  places  where  one  might  find  more  or  less  opportuni- 
ties of  a social  and  recreative  nature  are  patronized  but  little  by 
the  frequenters  of  the  saloons.  The  secret  of  the  saloon’s  influ- 
ence consists  in  the  opportunity  which  it  affords  for  procuring 
alcoholic  drink.  Take  away  from  the  saloon  its  bar,  or,  more 
exactly,  extract  from  its  beverages  all  trace  of  alcohol,  and  at 
once  it  ceases  to  be  a saloon.  The  secret  of  its  power  is  gone. 
A “ temperance  saloon  ” is  and  can  be  but  an  imperfect  substi- 
tute for  the  saloon. 

Therefore,  if  the  saloon  is  to  be  abolished  from  a community, 
this  must  be  done  by  the  working  together  of  restrictive  and  sub- 
stitutionary agencies,  the  former  stripping  it  of  all  incidental 
enticements,  and  the  latter  drawing  out,  encouraging,  and  giving 
support  to  all  tendencies  that  lead  away  from  strong  drink. 

William  I.  Cole. 

Kellogg  Durland. 

South  End  House, 

Boston. 


IV. 


SUMMARY  OF  REPORTS  FROM  TEN  REPRESENTATIYE  CITIES. 

[Note.  The  following  outlines  of  the  reports  give  only  statistical 
information.  The  full  and  detailed  reports  made  for  the  committee 
are  stripped  wholly  of  inference,  deduction,  comment,  generalization, 
and  description,  much  of  which  has  been  embodied  in  the  main  chap- 
ters of  the  volume.  Moreover,  not  all  existing  substitutes  have  been 
tabulated  in  each  city,  but  only  those  most  characteristic  or  most 
effective.] 

ATLANTA  (Spring,  1899). 

The  report  for  Atlanta  was  made  by  and  under  the  direction 
of  Rev.  Frank  E.  Jenkins. 

The  population  is  89,872,  or  with  the  suburbs  about  120,000. 
There  are  106  saloons,  — 87  whiskey  saloons,  19  beer  saloons. 
There  are  boundary  limits  beyond  which  only  beer  licenses  may 
be  granted. 

The  whiskey  limit  on  Decatur  Street  is  Butler  Street ; on 
Marietta  Street  is  Foundry  Street.  The  license  for  whiskey 
saloons  is  §1200,  and  for  beer  saloons  SoOO.  Saloon-keepers  are 
allowed  to  have  these  five  cold  articles  of  food  on  a counter  or 
sideboard:  cheese,  crackers,  pretzels,  bologna,  and  pickles.  No 
hot  article  of  food  can  be  had.  Some  saloons  provide  reading- 
matter. 

The  following  table  indicates  the  principal  features  of  the 
Atlanta  saloons  : — 


Saloons  selling  to  white  trade  only 27 

Saloons  selling  to  Negro  trade  only 2 

Saloons  selling  to  mixed  trade,  Negro  and  white 77 

Saloons  serving  Negro  and  white,  same  bar 9 

Saloons  serving  Negro  and  white,  separate  bar 21 

Saloons  providing  lunch 19 

Saloons  having  chairs  and  tables 48 

Saloons  with  reading-room  connected 1 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


339 


SUBSTITUTES. 


There  are  54  lodges,  30  trade  unions,  a few  social  clubs,  seven  \ Y 


missions,  of  which  one,  the  Barclay  Mission,  has  a reading-room, 
and  one,  the  Beacon  Light,  a “ Laboring  Men’s  Bureau,”  and 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  which  has  in  the  railroad  department  300  men 
enrolled. 

There  are  134  lunch-rooms,  — 94  condncted  by  Negroes,  and 
40  by  whites.  Of  soda  fountains  there  are  77,  — 65  conducted  by 
whites  and  12  by  Negroes.  These  lunch-rooms  and  light  drink 
establishments  present  no  more  social  features  than  are  found  in 
similar  establishments  in  the  North.  There  seem  to  be  no  special 
restaurants  for  workingmen  or  temperance  coffee-houses. 

The  number  of  lodging-houses  of  all  kinds  is  100,  of  which 
90  are  for  white  people  and  10  for  Negroes.  Careful  inquiry 
showed  that  : — 

Of  the  90  white  lodging-houses  49  have  social  rooms,  24  permit 
card-playing,  and  33  are  for  laboring  men. 

There  are  also  a number  of  public  pool-rooms  not  connected 
with  saloons.  Other  substitutes  appear  in  the  tables  which  fol- 
low : — 


.V 


/i--,  (/V 


340 


APPENDIX. 


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REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


341 


BALTIMORE  (July,  1899). 

A report  of  the  conditions  in  Baltimore  was  made  for  the  com- 
mittee by  Mr.  William  L.  Ross,  of  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

A careful  division  was  made  between  the  social  agencies  of  the 
white  and  colored  people.  Further  discrimination  was  made 
between  temperance  places  and  those  where  liquor  might  he 
obtained. 

The  population  of  Baltimore  is  508,957. 

The  present  number  of  saloons  of  all  classes  (1899)  is  as  fol- 
lows : saloons  and  restaurants,  1889;  clubs,  48;  wholesale  stores, 
66;  groceries,  35;  hotels,  48;  totals,  2086. 

The  principal  attractions  of  the  Baltimore  saloons  are  free 
lunch  ; baseball  and  other  sporting  news  ; newspapers,  both  daily 
and  weekly  ; music  boxes  ; occasionally  dancing  and  singing  ; 
graphophones  ; moving  pictures  ; tables  and  chairs.  Free  lunch 
is  abundant.  Gambling  is  not  at  all  uncommon.  Many  saloons 
have  small  gardens  furnished  with  tables  and  chairs,  where  many 
men  spend  the  hot  summer  days  and  evenings. 

Two  sections  of  Baltimore  are  in  sore  need  of  substitutes.  The 
southeast  end  of  the  city  lying  along  and  east  of  Broadway  and 
south  of  Baltimore  Street.  Some  good  institutional  work  here 
could  accomplish  much.  Perhaps  it  might  be  started  with  boat- 
ing as  the  feature  and  broadened  gradually.  Still  more  urgent 
are  the  needs  of  the  colored  quarter  which  may  be  said  to  centre 
at  Druid  Hill  Avenue  and  Oxford  Street.  The  best  plan  would 
be  to  acquire  a large  clubhouse  with  reading-room  and  gymna- 
sium. With  the  right  kind  of  a manager  this  could  not  fail  to  do 
much  good  among  the  colored  population  of  the  city. 

SOCIAL  SUBSTITUTES. 

These  are  indicated  in  the  following  tables  : — 


CLUBS. 


342 


APPENDIX. 


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CLUBS  — Continued. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


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II.  CHURCHES,  MISSIONS,  AND  SETTLEMENTS. 


344 


APPENDIX. 


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II.  CHURCHES,  MISSIONS,  AND  SETTLEMENTS  — Coniinuerf. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


345 


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346 


APPENDIX. 


In  addition  to  these  parks  there  are  other  resorts  under  private  control,  like  Klein’s,  Bay  Kidge,  and  Flood’s, 

which  are  innch  less  reputable. 


SUBSTITUTES  BY  DISTRICTS. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


347 


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348 


APPENDIX. 


BUFFALO  (Summer,  1899). 

The  investigation  in  Butfalo  was  made  by  Messrs.  Walter 
Brown,  Arthur  Williams,  Ludovic  Jones,  and  Rev.  C.  J.  Davis, 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Frederick  Almy,  of  the  Charity  Organ- 
ization Society,  and  by  Mr.  Levon  Tchorigian  under  the  direction 
of  Westminster  House. 

The  present  population  of  the  city  is  352,219,  which  includes  a 
large  foreign  population,  — Germans,  Poles,  Irish,  and  Italians. 

The  saloons  vary.  The  Italian  saloons  are  clean  and  orderly. 
The  German  and  Polish  saloons  sell  chiefly  beer,  and  little  drunk- 
enness is  visible.  The  police  say  that  not  one  fifth  of  the  arrests 
in  the  German  districts  are  due  to  liquor.  BiUiard  and  pool 
tables  are  common  in  tbe  saloons,  but  not  much  reading  is  done. 
Certain  well-known  club  saloons  have  gambling  rooms  attached. 
Licensed  drinking  clubs  occur  on  the  East  Side,  and  are  worse 
than  saloons.  Worst  of  all  are  the  music  halls,  the  public  dis- 
grace of  the  city,  located  on  the  East  Side  and  on  and  near  Canal 
Street. 

The  following  tables  indicate  the  chief  substitutes  existing  in 
the  city  : — 


CLUBS. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


349 


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There  are  other  clubs  connected  with  the  churches  of  the  city. 


II.  RELIGIOUS  INSTITUTIONS. 


350  APPENDIX. 


There  are  other  churchea  making  similar  provision  for  social  recreation. 


in.  LUNCH-ROOMS. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES.  351 


t/3 

W 

0 

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!zi 

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(-1 


For  members  only. 

No  liquor. 

See  above. 

See  above. 

Bath,  free  to  lodgers. 

Rolls  and  coffee. 

Billiard  and  reading  room. 

Baths 

U 

1 

90  beds 

50  beds,  800 members 
10  

125-150  men. 

135  men 

175  men 

oc.  & 10c. 
10c 

10c.  & 15c. 
10c.  & 15c. 
5c.,  10c., 

15c.,  20c. 

Washing-ton  St. 

79  Main  St 

Exchange  St. . . 

.^nO  Ohin  Sf.  - - . 

Lloyd  St 

84  Lloyd  St. . . . 
66  Main  St 

Star  of  Hope  Mission . 

Salvation  Army 

Y.M.C.A.  R.R.  Branch 
Cheap  Lodging  House 

Anchor  House 

The  Homestead 

The  Open  Hearth  .... 

352 


APPENDIX. 


CHICAGO  1 (September,  1899). 

The  investigation  in  Chicago  was  made  by  Royal  L.  Melendy, 
of  Chicago  Commons. 

The  saloon  in  Chicago  is  the  most  cosmopolitan  of  institutions. 
It  differs  in  different  portions  of  the  city  : in  the  workingmen’s 
district,  being  a centre  of  social  life  ; in  the  business  district, 
offering  a place  for  appointments  ; in  the  suburban  districts  often 
acting  as  a family  rendezvous. 

The  seventeenth  may  be  taken  as  a representative  ward  of  the 
working  people,  and  the  following  enumeration  of  its  attractions 
suggests  why  the  saloon  has  become  the  club  of  a vast  number  of 


workingmen  : — 

Number  saloons 16.3 

Offering  free  lunches Ill 

Offering  business  lunches 24 

Supplied  with  tables 147 

Supplied  with  papers 139 

Supplied  with  music 8 

Supplied  with  billiard  tables 44 

Supplied  with  stalls 56 

Supplied  with  dance  halls 6 

Allowing  gambling 3 


Eighty  churches  are  doing  institutional  work  among  men  by 
means  of  clubs,  outdoor  sports,  gymnasiums,  and  reading-rooms  ; 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  does  similar  work.  There  are  eight  hundred 
and  twenty-three  lodges  offering  infrequent  social  amusement, 
and  there  are  club-rooms  in  four  of  the  halls  of  the  one  hundred 
and  twenty-six  local  organizations  of  the  trade  unions.  There 
are  twelve  social  settlements  located  in  the  most  congested  dis- 
tricts of  the  city. 

The  following  tables  give  certain  statistics  concerning  saloons 
and  substitutes  in  Chicago  : — 

1 This  report  was  printed  in  fuU  in  the  American  Journal  of  Sociology, 
Nov.,  1900,  and  Jan.,  1901. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


353 


Police  Precinct. 

Population. 

I 

7,591 

II 

26,490 

Ill 

63,772 

73,000 

IV 

V 

66,000 

VI 

37,500 

VII 

31,200 

VIII 

12,500 

IX 

X 

20,000 

XI 

60,000 

XII 

52,500 

XIII 

38,000 

XIV 

36,000 

XV 

65,000 

XVI 

4,000 

XVII 

84,100 

XVIII 

30,000 

XIX 

55,500 

XX 

30,000 

XXI 

129,472 

XXII 

49,918 

XXIII 

75,000 

XXIV 

70,000 

XXV 

45,080 

XXVI 

XXVII 

42,593 

XXVIII 

39,172 

XXIX 

58,000 

XXX 

30,000 

XXXI 

XXXIT 

110,000 

xxxin 

94,635 

XXXIV 

75,000 

XXXV 

50,000 

XXXVI 

43,000 

XXXVII 

18,000 

XXXVIII 

83,642 

XXXIX 

63,738 

XL 

65,000 

XLL. 

60,000 

XLII 

50,000 

XLin 

20,000 

XLIV 

11,000 

Total 

Patronage. 

Average 

Attend- 

ance. 

Number 

Arrests, 

Drunks, 

per 

Month. 

216,875 

519 

23 

57,500 

295 

44 

33,011 

134 

25 

52,543 

171 

32 

500 

71 

1,500 

300 

1,250 

66 

4 

24,600 

315 

105 

23,300 

376 

2,450 

60 

1 

16,775 

221 

2 

43,660 

197 

29 

38,700 

240 

21 

4,175 

160 

43,025 

256 

29 

37,880 

332 

69,150 

215 

71 

9,660 

54 

750 

125 

2,700 

300 

6,495 

179 

34,550 

267 

1 

23,575 

209 

24 

13,755 

218 

9 

45,975 

126 

106 

37,.300 

133 

1 

21,850 

125 

14,300 

159 

2 

11,000 

256 

1,485 

60 

37,190 

113 

229 

20,400 

100 

8,113 

68 

24,825 

138 

61 

7,700 

143 

42 

3,150 

77 

3 

700 

88 

Saloon. 

418 

195 

247 

307 

7 

5 

19 

78 

62 

42 

76 

222 

128 

29 

168 

114 

321 

173 

6 

9 

363 

199 

113 

63 

365 

275 

175 

90 

43 

23 

329 

204 

129 

180 

54 

41 

16 


THEATRES. 


354 


APPENDIX, 


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REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


355 


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356 


APPENDIX. 


The  investigator  in  Chicago  made  a special  study  of  lodging- 
houses.  He  visited  86  houses  having  accommodations  ranging 
from  3 to  475.  Only  2 had  accommodations  for  as  many  as 
400,  and  only  1 for  a number  exceeding  that.  The  prices  charged 
for  accommodation  also  covered  a wide  range,  — from  5 cents  to 
^1  a night.  The  most  common  charges,  however,  were  10  cents 
and  15  cents  : 30  places  had  a 10-cent  minimum,  20  a 25-cent, 
and  12  a 15-cent  minimum.  For  exceptions  there  were  5 that  had 
a 5-cent  minimum,  3 that  charged  50  cents,  and  2 that  were  free. 
The  sanitary  conditions  of  the  boarding-houses  were  generally 
reported  good  ; in  only  11  cases  were  they  described  as  bad,  and  in 
17  liquor  was  reported  as  being  for  sale. 

CLEVELAND  (December,  1899). 

The  investigation  in  Cleveland  was  made  by  Mr.  Starr  Cad- 
wallader,  of  the  Goodrich  House  Social  Settlement. 

Cleveland  has  381,768  inhabitants,  and  1978  saloons,  open 
eighteen  to  nineteen  hours  out  of  every  twenty-four.  The  fol- 
lowing lists  show  some  of  the  attractions  otfered  by  the  saloons  : 

Common  features  : Free  limch ; tables  ; chairs  ; cards  ; music 
boxes. 

Frequent  attractions  : Dice  ; bagatelle  ; pool ; billiards  ; vari- 
ous gambling  devices  ; vocal  and  instrumental  music  ; dances  ; 
cake  walks  and  clog  dances. 

Substitutes  for  the  saloon  appear  in  the  following  tables  : — 


CLUBS. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


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357 


There  is  great  lack  of  social  clubs  for  men  in  Cleveland. 


boys’  clubs. 


358 


APPENDIX. 


II.  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


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III.  LUNCH-ROOMS. 


360 


APPENDIX. 


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REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


361 


DENVER  (April,  1899). 

The  report  of  the  saloon  in  Denver  and  of  the  social  substitutes 
offering  recreation  to  the  people  was  made  by  Robert  T.  Walker, 
Colorado  College. 

The  attractions  which  the  saloons  of  Denver  offer,  beyond  the 
sale  of  liquors,  may  be  summed  up  briefly  as  follows  : (1)  Socia- 
bility and  company.  (2)  Shelter  and  warmth.  (3)  Food,  as 
provided  by  the  free  lunch.  (4)  Amusements,  such  as  billiards, 
bowling,  music,  etc.  The  strength  of  the  Denver  saloon  lies  in 
the  first  attraction.  The  number  of  saloons  varies,  increasing  in 
times  of  prosperity.  During  the  period  of  the  gold  excitement, 
the  mining  towns  sent  large  embassies  to  Denver,  but  now  the 
saloons  rely  for  their  profit  almost  exclusively  on  home  patron- 
age. 

Denver  has  a population  of  133,859,  and  has  324  saloons. 
Some  of  the  substitutes  are  set  down  in  the  following  tables  : — 


CLUBS. 


362 


APPENDIX. 


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III.  OUTDOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


363 


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LUNCH-ROOMS. 


364: 


APPENDIX. 


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REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


365 


MINNEAPOLIS  AND  ST.  PAUL  (December,  1899). 

The  report  for  these  cities  was  compiled  by  Professor  F.  L. 
McVey,  of  the  University  of  Minnesota. 

The  combined  population  of  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  is 
366,350.  In  neither  city  are  there  large  slum  areas,  and  in  both 
certain  restrictive  liquor  laws  are  fairly  well  enforced.  In  Min- 
neapolis the  system  of  high  license  prevails.  The  license  fee  is 
$1000,  which  has  reduced  the  number  of  saloons  to  336.  St.  Paul 
has  a certain  number  of  prohibitive  districts,  increased  from  time 
to  time  by  action  of  the  City  Council,  until  at  present  there  are 
ten  such  districts  covering  about  forty  per  cent  of  the  city. 
There  are  298  saloons,  most  of  them  situated  in  the  central  part 
of  the  city.  The  total  number  of  saloons  for  both  cities  is  634. 

270  saloons  have  tables,  from  1 to  15  in  number  ; 217  have  card- 
rooms,  from  1 to  9 in  number  ; 52  have  gambling  machines. 

The  free  lunch  is  elaborate  in  3 saloons  ; excellent  in  8 ; good 
in  50  ; fair  in  88  ; poor  in  77  ; 56  saloons  provide  no  free  lunch  ; 
the  rest  simply  crackers  and  cheese. 

Of  the  634  saloons  in  both  cities,  about  330  belong  to  the  poorer, 
200  to  the  medium,  and  the  remainder  to  the  higher  class.  The 
total  patronage  for  both  cities  approaches  87,750  daily. 

The  following  form  of  schedule  was  used  for  saloon  data  : — 


1.  City  and  date 

Minneapolis,  Oct.  28,  1899. 

2.  Name  of  saloon. 

3.  Location 

725  Third  Street,  S. 

4.  Character  of  neighborhood  . 

Semi-residential. 

5.  Interior  — furnishings  . . 

Meagre. 

6.  Character  of  pictures  , . . 

Objectionable. 

7.  Tables  — number  . . . . 

Four. 

8.  Number  of  card-rooms  . . 

Two. 

9.  Gambling  machines.  . . . 

None. 

10.  Billiard  tables 

None. 

11.  Free  lunch  — kind  . . . . 

None. 

12.  Class  of  men  in  saloon.  . . 

W orkingmen. 

13.  Estimate  of  business  done  . 

$40.00. 

14.  Time  of  visit 

Two  p.  M. 

15.  Name  of  recorder  . . . . 

George  H.  Bragdon. 

The  social  substitutes  for  the  saloon  consist  of  a few  clubs, 
three  settlements,  three  model  lodging-houses,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
and  a few  churches  and  missions.  The  following  tables  summa- 
rize these  substitutes  : — 


366 


APPENDIX. 


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II.  CHURCHES,  MISSIONS,  AND  SETTLEMENTS. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


367 


III.  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


368 


APPENDIX. 


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REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


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APPENDIX. 


NEW  YORK  (Summer,  1899). 

The  report  from  which  the  following  tables  are  drawn  was 
^ made  by  Mr.  Francis  H.  McLean,  now  general  secretary  of  the 
Montreal  Charity  Organization  Society. 

Of  the  New  York  saloons  in  general  it  may  be  said  : — 

1.  That  the  interior  furnishings  are  not  as  a rule  elaborate. 

2.  That  the  Irish  or  stand-up  type  of  saloon  is  holding  its  own 
against  the  German  saloon  with  tables  and  chairs. 

3.  That  the  free  lunch  is  not  of  great  variety  or  abundance. 

' 4.  That  the  Raines  Law  has  increased  the  danger  of  immorality 
in  the  lower  class  of  saloons. 

5.  That  the  amount  of  excessive  drinking  in  New  York  has 
been  on  the  decrease  during  the  past  twenty-five  years. 

COMPARATIVE  NUMBER  OF  ARRESTS  FOR  DRUNKENNESS,' 

1874  AND  1898. 

Total,  including 

Disorderly  Conduct.  Male.  Female. 

1874  40,777  27,203  13,574 

1898  22,981  17,526  5,455 

The  population  of  New  York  doubled  within  these  years.  If 
the  ratio  of  arrests  to  population  had  been  maintained,  the  arrests 
in  1898  must  have  approached  80,000.  This  decrease  of  arrests 
cannot  be  explained  by  less  rigor  in  the  enforcement  of  the  law. 
It  indicates  a falling  off  in  excessive  drinking. 

^ These  figures  are  taken  from  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of 
City  Magistrates  of  the  City  of  New  York,  October  31, 1898. 


STUDY  OF  FIFTEEN  REPRESENTATIVE  SALOONS  IN  THE  FOURTEENTH  ASSEMBLY 

DISTRICT. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


371 


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STUDY  OF  FIFTEEN  REPRESENTATIVE  SALOONS  IN  THE  FOURTEENTH  ASSEMBLY 

DISTRICT  — Continued. 


II.  RETURNS  FROM  TWELVE  CIRCULATING  LIBRARIES  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


373 


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REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


375 


376 


APPENDIX. 


PHILADELPHIA  (Spring,  1899). 

The  report  for  Philadelphia  from  which  the  data  here  given 
are  taken  was  compiled  by  Mr.  E.  S.  Meade,  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania. 

Philadelphia  has  1,293,697  population.  The  effect  of  the 
Brooks  Law,  which  makes  the  animal  license  fee  one  thousand 
dollars,  has  tended  greatly  to  reduce  the  number  of  saloons  in 
Philadelphia  in  spite  of  the  increase  of  population.  This  de- 
crease in  number  has  so  lessened  competition  that  the  social 
attractions  are  comparatively  few  and  even  the  free  lunch  is  in- 
ferior in  quantity  and  quality  to  that  of  the  saloons  of  other 
cities. 

Substitutes  for  the  saloon  are  indicated  by  the  following 
tables : — 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


377 


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There  are  many  other  successful  boys’  clubs. 


II.  CHURCHES,  MISSIONS,  AND  SETTLEMENTS. 


378 


APPENDIX. 


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III.  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES.  379 


IV.  LUNCH-ROOMS. 


380 


APPENDIX. 


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REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


381 


SAN  FRANCISCO  (Makch,  1899). 

The  report  for  San  Francisco  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Dane  Cool- 
idge,  a graduate  student  of  Stanford  University. 

San  Francisco  has  a population  of  342,782.  The  number  of 
saloons  is  given  as  3032,  or  one  to  every  115  of  the  population. 
In  addition,  practically  all  of  the  328  restaurants  and  hotels  in 
the  city  serve  liquor.  Any  merchant  may  sell  liquor  by  the 
bottle,  pitcher,  or  case  without  an  additional  license,  and  liquor 
dealers  whose  sworn  sales  amount  to  less  than  $600  per  quarter 
are  not  required  to  pay  a license  fee.  The  fee  for  a retail  dealer 
making  sales  of  less  than  $15,000  a quarter  is  $21.  From  this  it 
may  be  seen  how  little  restriction  is  placed  upon  the  distribution 
of  liquor.  This  has  a bearing  upon  the  saloon  question.  The 
saloons  are  not  so  much  drinking  places,  for  those  abound  every- 
where, as  social  centres  where  men  may  gather  in  the  evening 
and  drink  and  treat  in  a social  way. 

The  free  lunch  is  a remarkable  feature  of  the  San  Francisco 
saloons.  The  following  summaries  will  furnish  some  idea  of  its 
abundance  and  variety  : — - 

1.  Cold  lunch  free  ivith  a fve-cent  drink  (beer  or  wine) : cold  meat, 
sausage,  salad,  cheese,  bread,  pickles,  crackers,  etc. 

2.  Hot  lunch  free  with  a fve-cent  drink  (beer  or  wine)  ; clam 
chowder,  roast  beef  and  other  meats,  hot  Mexican  beans,  mutton 
stew  and  vegetables. 

3.  These  hot  and  cold  lunches  combined  free  with  a fve-cent 
drink. 

4.  Tioo  serves  of  the  hot  lunch  free  with  a ten-cent  drink. 

5.  “ A Hot  Commercial  Lunch,”  or  “ Regular  Dinner  ” of  from 
three  to  five  courses,  together  with  any  five-cent  drink,  for  fifteen 
cents,  or  with  any  fifteen-cent  drink,  straight  or  mixed,  for  twenty- 
five  cents. 

The  subjoined  tables  indicate  some  of  the  existing  substitutes 
for  the  saloon  : — 


APPENDIX. 


> Tlieso  clubs  are  the  largest  o£  their  kiiiil.  Other  boys’  olubs  are  to  be  found. 


II.  CHURCHES,  MISSIONS,  AND  SETTLEMENTS. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 


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V. 

DIAGRAMS  ILLUSTRATING  DISTRIBUTION  OF  SALOONS. 

The  following  diagrams  show  the  number  and  location  of 
saloons  in  thickly  populated  quarters  of  New  York,  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  Buffalo. 


JL  S‘ 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  SALOONS.  387 


'5rd. 


rOLSOM  •ST. 

5ECT(0n  5AnrRAnCI5C0 


388 


APPENDIX. 


SECTioli  or 


BUFFALO. 


fy/LL//fM  ST. 


DQnQnnDnannDD 


VI. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

American  Charities.  Amos  G.  Warner.  T.  Y.  Crowell  & Co. 

A Municipal  Programme.  Macmillan  & Co.,  1900. 

An  Experiment  in  Altruism.  Elizabeth  Hastings.  Macmillan 
& Co. 

A Practical  Socialism.  Canon  and  Mrs.  S.  A.  Barnett.  Long- 
mans, Green  & Co.,  London. 

A Ten  Years’  War.  Jacob  A.  Riis.  Houghton,  Mifflin  & Co. 

A Wonderful  Factory  System.  Ohio  Labor  Statistics,  1896. 


Bulletins  46,  52,  55,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  : 
Dietary  Studies  in  New  York,  Pittsburg,  aud  Chicago. 


Club-Land  of  the  Toiler.  T.  S.  Peppin.  J.  M.  Dent  & Co., 
London. 

Commons,  The.  A monthly  record  devoted  to  aspects  of  life  and 
labor.  Chicago  Commons,  Chicago. 

Diminution  of  Drink  in  Norway.  Earl  of  Meath.  Nineteenth 
Century,  1891,  pp.  933-938. 

Drink  Problem  and  its  Solution,  The.  David  Lewis,  1881. 

Drink  Question,  its  Social  and  Medical  Aspects.  Dr.  Kate 
Mitchell.  Swan  Somienschein  & Co.,  1891. 


\Eeonomic  Aspects  of  the  Liquor  Problem.  Houghton,  Mifflin 
& Co. 

English  Poor,  The.  T.  Mackay,  1899. 

English  Social  Movements.  R.  A.  Woods.  Scribner’s  Sons. 


Factory  People  and  Their  Employers. 
& Co.,  New  York. 


E.  L.  Shuey. 


Lentilhon 


390 


APPENDIX. 


^ Facts  and  Figures  for  Social  Eefonners.  W.  Tweedie  & Co., 
London. 

Food  and  Drug  Inspection.  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  State 
Board  of  Health,  1896. 

Gothenburg  System  of  Liquor  Traffic,  The.  E.  R.  L.  Gould. 
Fifth  Special  Report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Labor,  1893. 

Gothenburg  System  of  Public  House  Licensing,  The.  Church  of 
England  Temperance  House  Society,  1893. 

Housing  Problem,  The.  Eighth  Special  Report  of  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Labor,  1895,  E.  R.  L.  Gould.  Monographs  on 
American  Social  Economics  in  our  American  Cities,  The,  Law- 
rence Veiller.  Municipal  Affairs  Magazine,  1899,  E.  R.  L. 
Gould. 

''  How  the  Other  Half  Lives.  Jacob  A.  Riis.  Charles  Scribner’s 
Sons. 

How  the  Poor  Live.  Pictorial  World,  London,  1883. 

Hull  House  Maps  and  Papers.  T.  Y.  Crowell. 

Influence  of  the  Liquor  Traffic.  Twenty-Sixth  Annual  Report 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor. 

Legislative  Aspects  of  the  Liquor  Problem.  Houghton,  Mifflin 
& Co. 

Life  and  Labor  of  the  People  in  London.  Charles  Booth.  Mac- 
millan & Co.,  London,  1889-97. 

Municipal  Baths  in  Boston.  W.  I.  Cole. 

Municipal  Movements  and  Social  Progress.  Monographs  on 
American  Social  Economics. 

Neighborhood  Guilds.  Dr.  Stanton  Coit.  Swan  Sonnenschein  & 
Co.,  London. 

New  York  Charities  Directory. 

Norwegian  Company  System,  The.  Why  should  Massachusetts 
adopt  and  test  it  ? Geo.  H.  Ellis,  Boston,  1895. 

Norwegian  System,  Report  on  the.  Massachusetts  House  Doc. 
No.  192,  1894,  pp.  187. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


391 


Philanthropy  and  Social  Progress.  T.  Y.  Crowell. 

Popular  Control  of  the  Liquor  Traffic.  E.  R.  L.  Gould.  The 
Friedenwold  Press,  Baltimore.  1895,  pp.  102. 

Religious  Movements  for  Social  Betterment.  Josiah  Strong, 
D.  D.,  1901. 

Report  of  the  New  York  Tenement  House  Commission,  1901. 

Salvation  Army,  The  Social  Relief  Work  of.  Commander  Booth 
Tucker.  Monographs  on  American  Social  Economics. 

Social  Settlements.  C.  R.  Henderson.  Lentilhon  & Co.,  N.  Y. 

Social  Wreckage.  Francis  Peek.  William  Ishister,  London. 

' Substitutes  for  the  Saloon  in  Boston.  Francis  G.  Peabody.  The 
Forum,  July,  1896. 

Temperance  Caterer,  The.  London,  Eng. 

Temperance  Movement  in  Russia,  The.  Nineteenth  Century 
Magazine,  vol.  v.,  12,  p.  439. 

Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Reform,  The.  Rowntree  and 
Sherwell.  Thomas  Whittaker,  N.  Y. 

Temperance  Refreshment  House  Movement.  British  Almanac 
Companion,  1880,  pp.  38. 

Universities  and  Social  Reform,  The.  J.  Knapp.  Rivington, 
Percival  & Co.,  London. 

Working  People’s  Clubs.  Robert  Graham.  Lentilhon  & Co., 
New  York. 

Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations,  History  of.  H.  S.  Ninde. 
Moiiogiaphs  oil  American  Social  Economics.  L.  L.  Doggett, 
Ph.  D. 


INDEX 


Amusements,  indoor,  156-186 ; outdoor, 
187-215. 

Art  galleries,  123, 184, 185. 

Art,  necessity  of,  123, 124. 

Association  for  Improving  the  Condition 
of  the  Poor,  274,  277. 

Astral  Apartments,  the,  285. 

Atliletic  clubs,  49,  IGl,  343. 

Atlanta,  summary  of  report  from,  338- 
340 ; saloons  in,  17,  338 ; theatres  in, 
340 ; parks  in,  198, 340 ; lunch-rooms  in, 
339 ; lodging-houses  in,  339 ; Y.  M.  C.  A. 
in,  339. 

Baltimore,  summary  of  report  from,  341- 
347  ; baths  in,  212  ; saloons  in,  14,  16, 
341;  reading-rooms  in,  120,  121,  344  ; 
church  work  in,  344 ; clubs  in,  342,  343 ; 
theatres  in,  345 ; pool-rooms  in,  156, 
347 ; settlements  in,  345  ; libraries  in, 
347;  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in,  142,  344 ; trade 
unions  in,  343 ; fraternal  societies  in, 
343;  parks  in,  195, 346  ; tenement  houses 
in,  269  ; mission  work  in,  344  ; model 
lodgings  in,  297,  298. 

Barnardo,  T.  J.  245. 

Barnett,  Canon  S.  A.,  82. 

Baseball,  188,  205. 

Baths,  public,  207-215,  268,  283,  333-335. 

Beer  gardens,  20,  187, 197. 

Beneficiary  societies.  See  Fraternal  So- 
cieties. 

Bicycle  clubs,  50,  205. 

Billiard-rooms,  156-159,  347 ; in  parish 
houses,  131. 

Boston,  report  from,  321-337;  saloons  in, 
16, 29, 321-326, 337;  popular  concerts  in, 
178,  179 ; gymnasiums  in,  179-183,  204, 
334-336;  coffee-houses  in,  220,  221, 
331;  playgrounds  in,  190,  191,  199-201, 
208  ; lunch-rooms  in,  231,  329,  330 ; 
baths  in,  207-210,  213,  214,  333-335  ; 
clubs  in,  97,  331 ; soda  fountains  in, 
217-219,  327,  328 ; ice  water  fountains 
in,  219,  326,  327  ; free  lectures  in,  107, 
109 ; boys’  clubs  in,  317,  318,  320,  331  ; 
tenement  houses  in,  271,  272 ; billiard- 
rooms  in,  157  ; lodging-houses  in,  292  ; 
reading-rooms  in,  330,  331 ; Public  Li- 
brary in,  331 ; Y.  M.  C.  A.  in,  332 ; tem- 
perance societies  in,  336 ; Salvation 
Army  in,  328,  337  ; parks  in,  333. 

Bowling-alleys,  158. 


Boxing  matches,  161-163. 

Boys’  clubs,  47,  48,  74,  75,  76,  77,  188, 
314-.320, 341,  360,  365 ; beginnings  of,  in 

1 America,  314 ; large  clubs,  plans  of,  314- 
316  ; cost  of,  315 ; aim  of,  317  ; advan- 

I tage  of,  318  ; industrial  classes  in,  314, 

' 315,  319,  320  ; settlement  clubs,  316- 
320 ; aim  of,  317 ; advantage  of,  317 ; 
leader  of,  316,  317  ; relation  of,  to  the 
home,  319 ; relation  of,  to  other  clubs, 
319. 

Brewers,  relation  of,  to  the  saloon,  7,  18, 
100,  326. 

British  Tea  Table  Co.,  246. 

British  workingmen’s  public  houses,  245, 
246. 

Brooks  Law,  376. 

Buffalo,  summary  of  report  from,  348- 
351 ; saloons  in,  348 ; clubs  in,  349  ; trade 
unions  in,  61,  319  ; fraternal  societies 
in,  349 ; church  work  in,  128,  350 ; set- 
tlements in,  350  ; mission  work  in,  350  ; 
restaurants  in,  351  ; lodging-houses  in, 
351 ; Y.  M.  C.  A.  in,  350,  351 ; baths  in, 
212 ; tenement  houses  in,  269. 

Canteen,  the,  258,  259,  265. 

Carnegie  libraries,  38. 

Charlesbank  gymnasium  (Boston),  204. 

Chester,  Bishop  of,  259  sq.,  264,  265. 

Chicago,  summary  of  report  from,  352- 
356  ; church  work  in,  128,  352 ; frater- 
nal societies  in,  352 ; trade  luiions  in, 
352 ; settlements  in,  352 ; theatres  in, 
354 ; lunch-rooms  in,  230,  355 ; lodging- 
houses  in,  293,  356 ; free  lectures  in, 
107 ; parks  in,  196  ; coffee-houses  in, 
226 ; baths  in,  214 ; clubs  in,  52  ; boys’ 
clubs  in,  48,  317  ; billiard-rooms  in,  156, 
158;  saloons  in,  8,  12,  14,  18,  23,  27,  48, 
352,  353  ; Y.  M.  C.  A.  in,  142, 143,  145 ; 
tenement  houses  in,  269,  271. 

Church,  the,  229,  238,  344,  345,  350,  352, 
367,  377,  378,  382,  383  ; the  modern  con- 
ception of,  125  ; relation  of,  to  social 
needs,  125,  126  ; Roman  Catholic,  127 ; 
Protestant,  127,  128 ; institutional,  127  ; 
the  parish  house,  129 ; gjnoinasiums, 
129  ; reading-rooms,  130, 131, 330 ; social 
rooms,  131 ; clubs,  131,  132,  133;  boys’ 
clubs,  315,  316 ; lodging-houses,  295, 
296 ; settlements,  133 ; missions,  132, 
133 ; relation  of,  to  the  home,  270 ; 


394 


INDEX. 


Church  Army,  the,  221,  222 ; Church 
Temperance  Society,  the,  219,237,  238, 

257.330. 

Ciucinnati,  saloons  in,  14 ; parks  in,  199  ; 
baths  in,  214 ; police  lodgings  in,  290 ; 
tenement  houses  in,  271  ; clubs  in,  50 ; 
church  work  in,  128. 

City  and  Suburban  Houses  Co.,  285-288. 

Cleveland,  summary  of  report  from,  35(>-, 
300  ; saloons  in,  12,  356 ; clubs  in,  357, 

358  ; T.  M.  C.  A.  in,  357  ; church  work 
in,  128,  357-359  ; boys’  clubs  in,  318, 

359  ; reading-rooms  in,  359  ; libraries 
in,  113,  359;  evening  schools  in,  359; 
clubs  in,  357,  358 ; lunch-rooms  in,  359, 

360  ; factory  lunch-rooms  in,  239-242, 
360 ; lodging-houses  in,  360 ; coffee- 
houses in,  239  ; tenements  in,  269. 

Clubs,  45-100,  156,  342,  343,  349,  357, 
362,  377,  382 ; genesis  of,  46 ; liquor  in, 
60-53,  86,  87,  89  ; defects  in,  70 ; federa- 
tion of,  75,  76, 78-80  ; among  wage  ear- 
ners, 80,  81,  342,  343  ;philanthropic,  90- 
100  ; necessity  of,  45,  46,  96 ; church, 
131,  132;  athletic,  49,  161;  and  the 
home,  267,  268. 

Club-rooms,  need  of,  46,  52,  60,  61,  63, 
72-75,  89,  160,  312. 

Cocoa-rooms  in  England,  245. 

Coffee-houses,  American,  216-229,  239, 

257.331,  363;  necessity  of  attractions, 
220,  221 ; finances  of,  223,  224. 

Coffee-houses,  English,  244-257 ; in  York, 
250  ; in  London,  247,  252,  253 ; in  Liver- 
pool, 246,  248,  250,  251,  252;  in  Man- 
chester, 248,  249  ; in  Bradford,  249,  250, 
251,  252  ; in  Birmingham,  249,  251 ; in 
other  cities,  249 ; furnishings  of,  249, 
^0 ; amusements  in,  250 ; service  in, 
250,  251 ; Sunday  closing,  251 ; bever- 
ages in,  251,  252 ; food  in,  252,  254, 255 ; 
drink  in,  253,  254  ; success  of,  255,  256  ; 
finances  of,  255 ; religion  in,  255  ; busi- 
ness management,  256 ; resiUts  of,  256. 

Coffee  palace  movement,  245. 

Coffee  vans,  238. 

Company  system,  the,  33,  34. 

Concerts,  popular,  178,  179. 

Cooking  classes,  229 ; importance  of,  228. 

Cooper  Union,  108,  115, 116,  121,  142. 

Corbett,  Thomas,  245. 

Denver,  summary  of  report  from,  361- 
364 ; saloons  in,  361 ; clubs  in,  362 ; trade 
unions  in,  362  ; boys’  clubs  in,  362 ; fra- 
ternal societies  in,  362  ; libraries  in, 
362;  reading-rooms  in,  117-119,  362; 
parks  in,  195,  363 ; theatres  in,  363  ; 
lunch-rooms  in,  231,  233,  364 ; lodging- 
houses  in,  292,  364 ; baths  in.  214 ; bil- 
liard-rooms in,  156  ; tenements  in,  269. 

Detroit,  parks  in,  194. 

Dietary,  investigation,  228 ; instruction, 
228,  229. 

Dime  museums,  163,  164. 

Dispensary  System,  the,  31-33. 

Drink,  attractions  of,  1,  3,  216,  217,  337. 

Druid  Hill  Park  (Baltimore),  124. 


East  Boston  Athletic  Club,  94, 180. 

Education,  101-124,  185 ; intemperance 
and,  101.  102  ; need  of,  102  ; teachers, 
102,  103  ; aesthetic,  123, 124,  185  ; mu- 
sical, 124,  177  ; the  saloon  and.  124  ; in 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  141 ; dramatic,  177,  178 ; 
Cooking,  228.  229. 

Educational  Alliance  (N.  Y.),  108,  121, 
189,  190,  205. 

Elmira  Reformatory,  40, 41. 

England,  substitutes  in,  36 ; temperance 
and  coffee  houses  in,  243-266 ; indus- 
trial monopoly  of  liquor  traffic,  258 ; in- 
temperance in,  256 ; temperance  reform 
in.  256  ; tenements  and  drunkenness  in, 
277  ; workingmen’s  clubs  in,  83-88,  97, 
98. 

Excursions,  79,  86,  201,  202. 

Expropriation,  necessity  of,  280. 

Factory  methods,  modem,  96-100, 112, 
113,  120,  121 ; lunch-rooms,  240-242, 
360;  liquor  monopolies,  258;  em- 
ployees, homes  of,  270. 

Fail  River  Boys’  Club,  315. 

Franklin  Institute  (Philadelphia),  121. 

Fraternal  societies,  63-69,  250 ; number 
of,  64 ; development  of,  64  ; social  fea- 
tures of,  65-67 ; saloon  and,  68,  69,  325 ; 
relation  to  liquor  business,  67,  68;  in- 
fluence of,  69. 

Gambling,  in  saloons,  14, 15 ; in  billiard- 
rooms,  158 ; at  baseball  games,  205. 

Glasgow,  People’s  Palace  in.  184,  tene- 
ment regulations  of,  280 ; working- 
men's  hotels  in.  296. 

Golden  Gate  Park,  192-194. 

Great  Western  Cooking  Depot.  245. 

Gymnasiums,  129,  141,  186;  in  Boston, 
179-183,  335,  336;  municipal,  181, 182; 
benefits  of,  183, 202, 203 ; outdoor,  202- 
205. 

Halls,  social,  159,  160 ; intoxication  in, 
160 ; need  of.'  for  clutHrooms,  312. 

Hartley  House,  38. 

High  license,  method  of,  28-30. 

Hill,  Miss  Octavia,  rent-collecting  scheme 
of,  283.  284. 

Hirsch,  Baron  de,  fund,  211. 

Historical  museums,  185. 

Hollj’wood  Inn,  91-93. 

Home,  the,  45,  71.  Ill,  114, 116, 187, 228, 
267,  268,  288,  289,  319. 

Home  Salon,  the,  226,  227. 

House  of  Commons,  reports  of,  36,  37. 

Housing  of  the  working  people,  267-301. 

Ice  ^"ater  foimtains,  192,  219,  220,  326, 
327. 

Improved  Dwellings  Company,  285. 

Ireland,  coffee-houses  in,  247. 

Irish  Temperance  League,  246,  247. 

Jersey  City,  saloons  in,  37 ; substitutes 
in.  38. 

Juvenile  crime,  181, 191,  209. 


INDEX. 


395 


B^dergartens,  101,  287. 

Kingsley  House,  38. 

Kop’s  Ale,  225, 252,  263. 

Lectures,  free,  105-111,  368,  379  ; libra- 
ries and,  107,  109 ; finances  and,  109, 
110;  educational  value  of,  110,  111. 

Legislative  restrictions  of  the  saloon,  25- 
35,  40. 

Libraries,  111-114, 119, 359, 362, 368,  373, 
379  ; as  saloon  substitutes,  111 ; im- 
proved methods.  111,  112, 114 ; branch, 
112 ; park,  113  ; traveling,  113 ; circu- 
lating, 114. 

“ Lighthouse,”  the,  94,  95, 360. 

Liquor  problem,  solution  of,  26,  40,  265, 
337. 

Liquor  traffic,  state  control  of,  31-33, 
257 ; government  control  of,  35,  257 ; 
private  reform,  control  of,  257, 258  ; in- 
dustrial monopoly  of,  258 ; municipal 
monopoly  of,  40,  265. 

Lodging-houses,  289-301,  351,  360,  364, 
358,  363  ; police  lodgings,  290,  291;  mu- 
nicipal, 291 ; cheap,  291-294 ; mission, 
294,  295 ; church,  295,  296  ; model, 
295-301. 

Low  license,  method  of,  27,  28. 

Lunch-rooms,  216,  229-242,  334,  343, 347, 
363,  368  ; as  saloon  rivals,  230, 234, 235, 
238,  328,  330. 

Lunch  wagons,  237,  238. 

Lyceums,  Catholic,  127,  344. 

Maine,  intemperance  in,  31 ; lack  of  sub- 
stitutes in,  31. 

Massachusetts,  saloons  in,  8,  12 ; Civic 
League,  190. 

Memphis,  parks  in,  196. 

Metropolitan  Park  Commission,  200,  201. 

Mills  Hotels,  248,  257,  296,  299-301. 

Mkmeapolis,  St.  Paul,  summary  of  report 
from,  365-369  ; saloons  in,  8, 365  ; clubs 
in,  366 ; boys’  clubs  in,  366  ; fraternal 
societies  in,  366  ; trade  union  in,  366  ; 
church  work  in,  367 ; T.  M.  C.  A.  in, 
367  ; mission  work  in,  367, 369  ; settle- 
ments in,  365,  367 ; night  schools  in, 
104,  368 ; libraries  in,  368 ; theatres 
in,  368 ; parks  in,  194,  352 ; lunch- 
rooms in,  369 ; lodging-houses  in,  295, 
369  ; tenements  in,  269. 

Missions,  134^138,  345,  350,  351,360,  367, 
378, 383 ; rescue,  134  ; manual  labor  in, 
134, 135 ; for  sailors,  135, 136  ; reading- 
rooms  in,  117, 136,  330  ; restaurants  in, 
235 ; lodgings  in,  294—296. 

Municipal  liquor  control,  40,  265;  lodg- 
ing-houses, 291  ; resorts,  200,  201 ; 
transportation,  281  ; meeting-places, 
72,  73. 

Music,  educational  value  of,  124. 

Music  halls,  165,  348. 

Nantasket  Beach  (Boston),  200. 

National  Cash  Register  Company,  98- 

100. 

New  Haven,  saloons  in,  14 ; trade  unions 


in,  59;  boys’  club  in,  314 ; coffee-house 
in,  221. 

New  Orleans,  saloons  in,  17,  18;  tene- 
ments in,  269,  270. 

New  York,  summary  of  report  from, 
370-372 ; saloons  in,  10,  12,  15, 16,  21, 
22,  30 ; substitutes  in,  38  ; dranken- 
ness  in,  370 ; playgrounds  in,  190, 
202 ; parks  in,  189,  190,  196 ; baths  in, 
211 ; clubs  in,  81,  97,  267 ; billiard- 
rooms  in,  157  ; boys’  clubs  in,  315,  316, 
318,  320 ; trade  unions  in,  59,  62,  63 ; 
tenement  houses  in,  272-279  ; recrea- 
tion piers  in,  206,  207  ; libraries  in,  113- 
115,  373 ; free  lectures  in,  105-108, 356 ; 
ice  water  fountains  in,  219,  220  ; the- 
atres in,  374;  lunch-wagons  in,  237, 
238 ; police  lodgings  in,  290,  291  ; 
cheap  lodging-houses  in,  293,  375 ; 
model  lodging-houses  in,  295,  296, 
299-301 ; coffee  vans  in,  238 ; coffee- 
houses in,  222, 257  ; evening  schools  in, 
103,  104;  church  work  in,  128,  129. 

North  End  Park  (Boston),  208,  334. 

Norumbega  Park  (Boston),  199. 

Norway,  substitutes  in,  36,  244. 

Norwegian  System,  the,  33,  34. 

Ohio  Mechanics’  Institute,  121. 

Outdoor  Recreation  League,  190,  202, 203. 

Paine,  Robert  T.,  Co.,  285. 

Parks,  public,  187,  191,  192-198,333,340, 
346,  363  ; private,  197-200. 

Pennsylvania,  saloons  in,  8. 

People’s  Choral  Union,  the,  124;  sing- 
ing classes,  124. 

People’s  Institute  (Boston),  333. 

People’s  Institute  (N.  Y.),  81, 108,  121. 

People’s  Palaces,  in  Engird,  184, 185;  in 
America,  185. 

People’s  Refreshment  House  Association, 
England,  259-266 ; administration  of, 
261,262  ; food  and  drink  in,  262-264; 
criticisms  of,  264,  265. 

Philadelphia,  summaiy  of  report  from, 
376-380  ; saloons  in,  16,  376  ; baths  in, 
212 ; parks  in,  197, 198 ; boxing  matches 
in,  161 ; clubs  in,  50, 133,  377  ; religious 
work  in,  378 ; educational  work  in, 
379 ; billiard-rooms  in,  157 ; lunch- 
rooms in,  380 ; free  lectures  in,  107, 109 ; 
lodging-houses  in,  298,  299,  380  ; libra- 
ries in,  114. 

Picnic  grounds,  199-201. 

Pittsburg,  substitutes  in,  38 ; tenements 
in,  270,  271. 

Playgrounds,  74,  187-192,  268,  283. 

Pleasure  resorts,  192,  201,  346. 

Political  clubs,  54,  343. 

Politics  and  the  saloon,  10, 11,  54. 

Pope  Manufacturing  Company,  98. 

Popular  opera,  174,  175. 

Population  of  cities,  39. 

Portland,  saloons  in,  31. 

Prohibition,  2,  30,  31,  257, 259,  265,  266. 

Prospect  Union  (Cambridge),  121,  122. 

Public  squares,  192,  196. 


396 


INDEX. 


“R,”  The,  94,  377. 

Raines  hotels,  15. 

Randidge  fund,  the,  201. 

Rapid  transit  and  the  tenement  house 
problem,  281. 

Reading-rooms,  114-120,  330,  332,  357, 
383  ; as  a saloon  substitute,  115  ; best 
methods  of,  117  ; in  churches,  1^  ; in 
missions,  117,  136,  138  ; in  settlements, 
154,  186. 

Recreation  piers,  206,  207,  268. 

Restaurants,  19,  20,  229-242,  256,  257  ; 
and  liquor  selling,  231 ; as  social  cen- 
tres, 232,  233 ; as  saloon  rivals,  230, 
234,  235  ; in  missions,  235. 

Revere  Beach  (Boston),  200, 201. 

Riis,  Jacob  A.,  207,  278. 

Roof  gardens,  197,  205. 

Rowton  Houses,  247,  248,  297 

Russia,  substitution  in,  35,  36 ; tea  tav- 
erns in,  243. 

Saloon,  the,  as  a social  centre,  1-24,  25, 
27,  41,  42,  118,  194,  196,  312,  337,  353, 
376,  381 ; the  poor  man’s  club,  8,  9, 25, 
45,  48,  265,  312 ; lowest  type  of,  5 ; 
Irish,  6,  7-19 ; pictures  in,  7 ; furni- 
ture in,  8,  321 ; cosmopolitani.sm  of,  8 ; 
as  labor  bureaus,  9,  325  ; as  athletic 
clubs,  10 ; as  political  clubs,  10 ; as 
amusement  resorts,  12,  22-24,  164-  j 
167, 185, 186,  324 ; card-plajing  in,  12 ; ' 
newspaper.?  in,  12,  13 ; music  in,  13,  j 
23,  ^6;  sporting  news  in,  13,  14; 
gambling  in,  14,  ^ ; free  lunch  in,  15-  I 
19,  228,  229,  231,  234,  239,  257,  321,  , 
324,  370,  376,  381  ; toilet-rooms  in,  19;  , 
location  of,  26, 42,  386,  387, 388 ; Conti-  j 
nental,  9 ; social  vice  in,  15,  30  ; busi- 
ness men’s,  20,  22  ; boulevard,  20,  21 ; 
German,  20, 22, 323 ; Italian,  20 : Hun- 
garian, 20  ; Polish,  20 ; number  of, 
26  ; private  control  of,  30,  33,  34  ; the- 
atres in,  23,  164-167. 

Saloon-keeper,  the,  1,  10-12. 

Saloons  in  the  North,  17  ; in  the  South, 
8, 17  ; in  the  West,  8,  14,  18,  22,  24 ; in 
^ the  East,  14,  22  ; in  the  Southwest,  119. 

^Ivation  Army,  the,  136-13$,  295,  328- 
337. 

San  Francisco,  summary  of  report  from, 
381-385  ; saloons  in,  18,  19,  27,  381 ; 
baths  in,  214  : parks  in,  192-194  ; clubs 
in.  81,  382;  boys’  club  in,  76,  382  ; reli- 
gious work  in,  383  ; theatres  in,  384; 
lunch-rooms  in,  231,  385 ; tenements  in, 
269. 

Sanitary  aid  societies,  279. 

Sanitary  code,  280. 

Sanitary  reform,  279,  280. 

Sanitation,  need  of,  268. 

Scandinavian  System  the.  33,  34,  259. 

School  buildings,  use  of,  74. 104, 105, 189 ; 
playgrounds  and,  190. 

Schools,  102  : mimicipal  evening,  103-105, 
359, 368, 379;  trade,  121 : industrial,  123. 

Screen  law,  the,  12,  321,  325. 

Secret  societies.  See  Fraternal  Societies. 


Settlements,  63,  77,  78,  113,  114, 116, 127, 
133, 148-155,  207, 229, 236,  264,  331, 345, 
350,  367,  378,  383  ; and  temperance  re- 
form, 148  ; influence  of.  ; and  adult 
men.  150-153 ; boys’  clubs  in,  316-320 ; 
entertainments,  151 ; and  substitution, 
154  155. 

Seward  Park  (N.  Y.),  190, 202, 203. 

Shooting-galleries,  158, 163. 

Socialists’  clubs,  55,  56 ; and  the  saloon, 
56. 

Social  Reform  Club  (N.  T.),  81. 

Soda  fountains,  217-219,  327,  328,  339. 

Soft  drinks,  42,  43 ; value  of,  216,  217 ; 
profit  on,  225 ; in  English  coffee-houses, 
251-253,  256,  262,  263. 

Squares,  public,  196. 

Squirrel  Inn  (N.  Y.),  257. 

St.  Louis,  saloons  in,  10. 14, 18,  22,  28; 
Provident  Association,  123. 

Streets  as  social  centres,  187,  188 ; as 
playgrounds,  188. 

Substitution.  5.  35-44 : drink  and.  42,  43, 
133, 194,  195, 197,  200;  cooperation  in, 
42  ; financial  aspects  of,  39,  40  ; saloon- 
keepers and,  41,  183,  336;  philanthropy 
and,  39,  41 ; settlements  and,  153, 155. 

Suburban  houses,  288  ; resorts,  200. 

Sunday  closing  ordinance.  195. 

Sweden,  substitution  in,  244, 

Tea  saloons,  220,  222. 

Tea  taverns  in  Russia,  243. 

Temperance  in  England,  256. 

“ Temperance  Caterer,  The.”  248.  252. 

Temperance  drinks.  See  Soft  Drinks. 

Temperance  hotels  in  England,  247, 248, 
257. 

Temperance  houses  in  England,  243-266. 

Temperance  societies,  256. 

' Temperance  taverns,  220-266. 

Tenement  House  Building  Co.,  285. 

Tenement  House  Commissions,  reports  of, 
273,  274,  276,  282,  283. 

Tenement  houses,  problem  of,  269;  in 
American  cities,  269-279;  overcrowd- 
ing in,  273,  274:  double-decker,  274; 
loss  of  economic  efficiency  in,  275 ; 
mortality  in,  275,  276  ; immorality  in, 
276  ; poverty  in,  276;  dnmkenness  in, 
276,  277  ; relation  of  saloons  to,  277  ; 
expropriation,  necessity  of,  281 ; licens- 
ing, 280,  281 ; rent  collecting  in,  283, 
284. 

Tenement  houses,  model,  284-288 ; 
finances  of,  285 : in  Europe,  285 ; in 
America,  285-288  : description  of,  286, 
287  ; rent  collection  in,  284 . 

Theatre,  the,  164-178,  340,  346,  363,  368, 
374,  384 ; and  the  saloon,  164-167 ; 
for  the  working  people,  167,  168 : in 
France,  176,  ITT  : vaudeville,  16S-1T2 ; 
melodrama.  1T2-1T4;  opera,  1T4.  1T5  ; 
municipal,  ITT,  ITS;  summer,  19T. 

Trade  unions.  ^-63,  82,  303-313,  343, 
349,  352  ; relation  of,  to  the  saloon,  56, 
58,  59,  61,  62,  303-313,  325  : life  of,  57, 
58 ; social  features  of,  59,  60,  304,  307  ; 


INDEX. 


397 


influence  of  insurance  benefits,  58,  309, 
310;  need  of  good  club-rooms,  Gl,  63, 
312. 

Transportation  and  pleasure  resorts,  199, 
201 ; municipal  ownership  of,  281. 

Turn  Verein,  the,  180.  ♦ 

Twentieth  Century  Club,  the,  272. 

University  extension  movement,  107, 108. 

UniversiJ;y  Settlement  (N.  Y.),  63,  78, 153. 

Wage  earners,  differentiation  of,  283. 

Wagner  Institute  (Philadelphia),  109. 

Warner  Bros.  Mfg.  Co.,  98. 

Washington,  coffee-house  in,  223-225 ; 
tenement  ordinance  in,  281. 

Wells  Memorial  (Boston),  330,  332. 

Whittier  House,  37. 

Willow  Grove  Park  (Philadelphia),  197, 
198. 

Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
118,  119, 155,  336. 


Working  girls’  clubs,  268. 

Workingmen’s  clubs,  80-100,  377 ; in 
England,  83-88,  97,  98;  philanthropic, 
90-100 ; in  factories,  96-100 ; in 
churches,  133. 

Workingmen’s  Coffee  House,  244. 

Workingmen’s  hotels  in  England,  247, 
248,  296,  297  ; in  America,  289, 297-301. 

Young  Men’s  Christian  Association,  53, 
180,  332,  339,  350,  357,  368  ; beginnings 
of,  138,  139 ; in  America,  139 ; devel- 
opment of,  140 ; present  extent  of,  140  ; 
property  of,  140 ; social  and  educa- 
tional features  of,  140,  141 ; railroad 
department,  141, 142  ; in  United  States, 
142 ; amusements  in,  146,  147 ; new 
methods  of,  146,  147  ; and  the  church, 
147  ; and  the  wage-earner,  142-146. 

Young  men’s  clubs,  48-53,  76-80,  181, 
331 ; saloon  and,  50-52. 

Young  Men’s  Institute  (R.  C.),  127. 


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